


This Too?

by jasperboy



Category: The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2018-11-03 09:04:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 34,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10964052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasperboy/pseuds/jasperboy
Summary: It seemed to me there must have been more going on than could possibly fit into Andy Weir's well told story and that maybe this was the place to share my thoughts on that.Everything here pertains to the book and ignores plot changes and casting decisions made for the filmThis work includes some additional characters I have imagined, including some members of the Ares I and Ares II crews.Please be gentle, this is my first time ever doing this and the exercise was strictly for enjoyment.





	1. Homecoming

December 27, 2037 ARRIVAL IN HOUSTON

After 3 days of seemingly endless medical tests and debriefs, the Ares III crew finally were delivered to the Johnson Space Center. 

While allowed brief visits at the arrival facility, they were now given 4 uninterrupted hours to spend with their families. After lunch with with loved ones each astronaut was given 2 hours of down time to relax or nap in their own quarters, preparing for their the afternoon and evening schedule.

The ‘work day’ began in the afternoon with a press conference. 

Rather than require the crew, and especially Mark Watney, to have to deal with a high intensity press event, Annie Montrose arranged a Web and Video worldwide conference. Only three journalists, selected by draw, were physically in the room with the Ares III crew. The correspondents were a woman from Reuters, a man from the Broadcast Network Cooperative and a woman from LiveScience. After each asked a question of their own, they relayed questions that were being submitted in real time from various media outlets - print, broadcast and web - from around the world. Annie had insisted each question be directed to one crew member in turn, thus preventing Mark Watney or Commander Lewis from being overwhelmed with all the questions. A handful of videographers broadcast/streamed the event around the world. 

Two and a half hours later, the crew returned to their quarters to unwind before a private dinner at 7:30 p.m. which would end their official NASA day. 

After dinner their ‘unofficial day’ began. 

Two welcome home receptions had been planned for the Ares III crew this first week back. Tomorrow’s exclusive ‘Ares III Reception,’ capped at 75 dignitaries and key NASA personnel, would be the smaller reception. On Wednesday they would attend the ‘ARES III Welcome Home Party,’ with attendance expected north of 400 people with full media coverage. 

But the crew had been adamant, they wanted the opportunity to personally thank people they thought deserved special attention. And they wanted to do so in a much smaller and intimate setting than the first two scheduled receptions would afford. Thus a last minute series of confidential surprise meetings were scheduled that evening, beginning at 9:30 p.m. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving in the late afternoon, Vice President Amara Jordan was in Houston to be an honored guest at tomorrow’s ‘Ares III Reception’ but her hope for a quiet evening was spoiled by a call from the President’s Chief of Staff. A last minute addition to her schedule meant the she was to attend a confidential meeting that evening at the Johnson Space Center, 9:30 p.m. sharp.

She was pleasantly surprised when she entered the conference room to find the Ares III crew waiting. She had tirelessly lobbied, twisted arms and cajoled Senators and Representatives to get the funding for the rescue effort. The safe return of the entire crew and meeting them in person gave her a feeling of fulfillment rare in the world of politics. The crew spent more than 15 minutes with the Vice President, thanking her for those efforts. 

 

Once the Vice President left the room, Zhu Tao and Guo Ming, of the China National Space Administration were escorted into the conference room along with a translator. In Houston for tomorrow’s the reception, they, too, had received a directive, this time from the Chinese Ambassador, that they were required to attend this meeting. Being greeted by the Ares III crew was unexpected and they felt honored that the astronauts spent nearly 15 minutes thanking them both.

 

When it came to social events, Rich Purnell didn’t enjoy them or willingly take part, he reluctantly endured them. So when Venkat Kapoor called his hotel room at 8:30 p.m. and told him he had been summoned to a very important meeting at JSC tonight, he was relieved to have something to keep his mind off tomorrow’s reception. Meetings that required his brain power he could deal with, receptions that required his personality, not so much. Kapoor told him to save his jacket and tie for tomorrow, that was good since these were the ONLY jacket and tie he owned, tonight’s meeting was business casual.

As the CNSA pair exited, Rich Purnell tentatively entered the room. At 55 years old, the 27 year veteran of NASA was totally taken aback. He was immediately surrounded by the entire crew, his hand was repeatedly shaken, he was hugged, his back was patted and Beth Johanssen even kissed his blushing cheek. He had never thought, nor expected, he would receive this sort of appreciation for his work. Alex Vogel, for one, couldn’t wait to discuss in detail the complexities of calculating the Purnell Maneuver and insisted on setting a time when they could get together. Nearly 20 minutes later, walking on cloud nine, an unabashed Rich Purnell left the room and the final guest entered.

 

Earlier that evening Mindy Park had been searching for a new apartment, now that Mark was back home her current living arrangement of sharing an apartment was out of the question. Three is a crowd! Then came a call from her roommate telling Mindy she was needed that evening at JSC for an urgent meeting. She asked if there was some sort of problem but Annie Montrose replied everything was okay, just that she should stop by Annie’s office no later than 9:30 to be brought up to date. 

Without a doubt, Mindy Park received the most effusive and emotional response from the crew, led by Mark Watney. After 30 minutes of the crew sincerely thanking Mindy the meeting was ended. Before leaving the room she slipped Mark a small folded handwritten note and whispered he should read it when he was alone. He quickly hid the note in his pocket for later. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, at 11 p.m., each crew member was escorted to their private quarters where, at last, they would share a bedroom with spouses or significant others for the first time in about 900 days.

Additional debriefings would not begin until the day after tomorrow, allowing the crew to sleep in and have lunch with their families before the tomorrow’s official Welcome Home reception.

While undressing, Mark remembered the note that Mindy had slipped to him. He unfolded the note which read, “Leave your door unlocked, Go Cubs Go”

After less than 20 minutes in his room, lying in bed in the dark, Mark thought he heard his door open. As he sat up in bed his night vision allowed him to make out that someone had slipped inside the room. Hopefully she was able to walk down the hall unseen because they would like to keep their secret for a little longer.


	2. Crossed Paths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is backstory necessary to the rest of the piece. It is a little dark, but I promise it will get better as the story progresses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a car person, so if I made automotive mistakes I apologize now. Also there may occasionally be a little German and I used Google Translate, so sorry for any mistakes here, too.

January 13, 2034 (Friday)

 

As was her habit, once a month Annie Montrose invited a couple of the regular press corp for a drink. The only rule was that no NASA business would be discussed, it was small talk. How is your wife? Is your daughter still playing the violin? Small talk. 

Tonight she treated a reporter from CNN and one from the BBC. A recent addition to the press room group was a freelance videographer who sort of invited himself to the gathering as well, so it was four of them who met for a drink.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

While still 16 months away from his mission, there were enough ARES enthusiasts in the Houston area that encounters with ‘fans’ were hard for Mark Watney to avoid. 

Most NASA astronauts had one or two favorite out of the way places they could remain relatively anonymous while dining or entertaining friends. Mark Watney was more than happy to remain invisible whenever possible but he did have to share some of the blame for being recognized. He would have been much harder to spot with a less conspicuous car than his vintage 1962 Tuxedo Black Corvette Roadster. But let's face it, if the Vette was good enough for the original Mercury 7, it was good enough for him.

 

That’s why Mark’s friend Jeff Maddox, who was a bartender at Busby’s, made sure he could come in through the side door and be seated in the back corner without making a fuss. 

Just as his Black Bean soup was being served, the waitress passed Mark a note from Jeff that read, hey look, the redheaded NASA internet star is here at the bar. 

Mark looked over and saw Annie Montrose with some media types wearing NASA Press Passes around their necks at the bar. All were laughing and apparently having a good time. As Mark finished his soup he saw two of Annie’s group had their jackets on and were leaving. She turned back, took one last sip of her drink, paid the tab and appeared to be leaving, too. The final guy, rather scruffily dressed, walked out with her. 

Jeff immediately looked over to Mark and beckoned him to the bar. He told Mark something wasn’t right with that woman. She was starting to slur her words, as if she were drunk, but she only had a club soda. 

Mark decided to go outside and look for Annie. Her Tesla E-Rox with the personalized vanity plate, NASAPR, was in the ‘no parking’ spot just to the right of Busby’s front door, but no Annie. 

 

Mark scanned the parking lot and three rows out saw a woman with red hair being lifted by the scruffy guy into the back of an old rusty van. Mark started running toward the van but the scruffy guy saw him and hurriedly climbed into the drivers seat. The van quickly took off toward the back of the parking lot and then turned onto a service road which led to a large office building about 200 yards away.

Mark turned back and ran around to Busby’s side entrance to retrieve his Corvette. Not wanting to lose sight of the van he quickly drove to the service road, but once there he had to go slowly, the undercarriage clearance of the Vette was not as high as the van and, unless he wanted to bottom-out, he would have to drive carefully.

 

Meanwhile in back of the van, Annie was fading in and out of consciousness. 

At her most lucid she knew she had to do something about her situation, she wasn’t going to put up with this shit! She crawled toward the front of the van and tried to reach up to punch the guy driving. Unfortunately, her coordination was shot and all she accomplished was poking the driver in the eye and scratching him in the face. The driver hit the brakes hard which slammed Annie into the back of the passenger seat, then driver then quickly accelerated. That, and the uneven surface on which they were driving, caused Annie to be tossed all around the back of the van. By the time the van came to a stop she was bruised, very shaken, and nearly unconscious. 

 

Within a minute Mark neared the office building and he could see the van sitting near a rear loading dock. Once on the pavement of the office building parking lot he could drive faster and it only took a few seconds for him to pull up behind the van.

He ran around to the front of the Van but couldn’t see anyone in the driver or passenger seats. He could, however, hear a voice coming from the back of the van. Mark thought about calling the police but, if Annie was in there, she needed help now! 

Grabbing the back door handle on the van, he turned it slowly and once the latch was disengaged he yanked open the van’s rear double doors.

 

Mark immediately saw the back of scruffy man on his knees talking to a woman lying on a ratty mattress. There were 3 or 4 bright lights aimed at the woman and it appeared the man was setting up a recording or broadcasting device with one hand, while attempting to lift the woman's skirt up to her waist with the other. And yes, the woman was Annie Montrose! 

 

Mark grabbed the man by his belt and yanked him backward out of the van. Landing on his back the man gave a loud ‘OOOMPH!’ He tried to get to his hands and knees but he had the ‘wind knocked out of him’ and it was a struggle just to take a breath. 

Mark looked into the van and Annie appeared to be just barely conscious, softly mumbling and moaning. Taking advantage of the man’s inability to breathe easily, Mark quickly grabbed a piece of cable from the van and tied the pervert’s hands at his back and then used a second length of cable to secure the ankles. He found a rag to stuff into the bastard’s mouth and a shorter piece of cable held the gag in place.

Climbing into the van, Mark walked, hunched over, toward the front to get to Annie. It was obvious she was disoriented and very groggy. She tried to sit up but fell back on the mattress, tried to talk, apparently tried to focus on what was happening, but she was having trouble forming words and didn’t recognize Mark. She flailed her arms to push Mark away but she had little coordination and her efforts were too weak to be effective. Annie’s clothes were rumpled and covered in saw dust and other filth from the back of the van. Mark wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible but she seemed to finally have succumbed to unconsciousness.

Mark got out onto the pavement and pulled the mattress toward the rear of the van. He was then able to lift Annie out of the van and carried her to his car. Fortunately the top was down and he was able to maneuver her into the passenger seat. 

Turning his attention back to the pervert who was struggling against his bindings, Mark found a NASA Press badge in the bastard’s back pocket. It turned out he was Mercon Lee Ashton, listed as “Freelance Videographer.” 

“Well Mer-con, I am going to help you stand up and you are going to hop over to the van and sit inside the back, then I am going to swing your legs around and close you in.” After Mark laid Ashton on his side he used one last length of cable to hog-tie Ashton’s hands and feet together. “No one knows you are here so you may as well relax, someone will come by for you soon enough.” Mark slammed the doors of the van and went around to the front and took the keys.

 

Next problem. How was he to find a way to secure an unconscious Annie for a car ride? The Corvette only had a lap belt, not the three point seatbelt that has been standard for 50 years or so. And, because Isaac Newton was a DICK, even if Mark was driving very slowly, stopping the car would throw Annie’s head forward into the dashboard. 

Mark rummaged around the back of the pervert’s van to see if there was anything he could use to help counter the inertia problem. There were loose cables and wires, but the Corvette has no back seat and no way to get behind the passenger seat to secure Annie into place. 

Then had an idea. He drove back down the service road to Busby’s as slowly as possible, first gear only, with his right arm extended to hold Annie into her seat. Once at the side door, Mark ran inside and asked Jeff if he could borrow a large trash bag and some tablecloths. 

It took 7 of the damn tablecloths, but he wadded up each one, put them in the trash bag and then used the trash bag as cushion between the dashboard and Annie. Even though the bag wedged her tightly into the passenger seat, Mark would still have to be careful turning corners. He also had to make sure she could breathe with the bag near her face, but he was pretty sure he could drive Annie safely, it was only a 10 minute drive to his apartment.

Just before he pulled away from Busby’s, Mark contacted Chris Beck, and without explaining why, asked him to urgently bring his medical bag to Mark’s apartment.

Driving very carefully meant the 10 minute ride took nearly 20 minutes but it gave Mark further time to think about what he should do. He really didn’t want to call the police without first talking to Annie. 

Fortunately it was late and there was no activity in Mark’s parking garage or elevator. He had to put the top down again to get Annie out of the car but he was able to carry her to his apartment without being seen. Just as his apartment door snickered closed behind him, Chris Beck rang the entry buzzer at the front of the building.

 

While Beck examined Annie in the bedroom, Mark made a hurried call to Alex Vogel. He apologized for the late call and said that he needed a very large favor and explained what he wanted. Vogel responded as expected: “Watney, I would do anything for a crew mate” and he asked Mark to wait a few minutes. 

Five minutes later Mark got a call from Lukas Buckner, the ex-KSK agent assigned by the European Space Agency to ‘escort/watch over’ Vogel until he moves into the NASA facilities for final training and mission prep. They had a brief discussion and 20 minutes later Buckner and an associate pulled up in front of Mark’s building. Mark handed them the keys to Ashton’s van and directed them to the office building lot where the van could be found. Lukas told Mark not to worry and assured him he had a place to keep the van and the Perversling for a while.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

THE NEXT DAY

 

In the morning, while Annie was still in a deep sleep, Mark left Chris to watch over Annie and he went back to Busby’s to meet Jeff who had pulled surveillance video that clearly showed what had happened.

There was video of Ashton spiking Annie’s drink when she wasn’t looking and the parking lot video showed Annie stumbling as she tried to walk while Ashton lifted her into his van. Jeff gave a copy of the video to Mark and, at Mark’s request, deleted the original at the bar.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Later that afternoon Annie slowly awakened making a sound something like MUUUUUH. She had groggy thoughts that began to make their way to the surface. 

.. This pillow is much too firm. 

.. Damn, my head hurts! 

.. Why is it so damn bright? 

.. Shit, my head hurts! 

.. The light hurts my eyes and they are not even open. 

 

Suddenly aware of her subconscious thoughts, Annie’s eyes opened wide. 

.. Fuck, my head really hurts! 

 

She quickly sat up, was overcome with dizziness, and lay back down. She waited a minute then sat up more slowly. Through the haze in her head she tried to work things out. 

.. I'm sure this isn’t my bedroom. 

.. And what am I wearing, this sweatshirt isn’t mine? 

.. What has happened? 

.. The clock says 4:50 but if light this bright was coming through the curtained window it must be afternoon!

 

“What the fuck!” Annie thought. “Where am I and what the hell is going on? 

 

With her temples throbbing It took a couple of moments to untangle herself from the sheets. She stumbled across the bedroom, looked for her clothes but only found her shoes. Her heels seemed a bit much with the sweatshirt so she remained barefoot. Seeing a door, she slowly went through into what appeared to be a rather messy living room full of potted plants. 

Though she seemed to be alone there were folded sheets and a pillow on the sofa which seemed to imply someone else had been sleeping in this apartment, too. At that moment, backing into the apartment through the front door, with his arms full, came a much too cheerful man.

Seeing Annie standing in the bedroom doorway Mark spoke very quickly. 

 

“Oh good, you’re finally awake. You remember me, right? Mark Watney, Ares III? Regardless of what Chris said, that’s Dr Beck, he’s also Ares III, I was beginning to worry. Here are your skirt, blouse and jacket. My dry cleaner is a huge NASA fan and, he did a rush job, just for me”

Annie stood confused and unable to comprehend just what was going on.

Draping the dry cleaning over the back of a chair, Mark continued quickly, “I know its been at least 18 hours, maybe longer, since you have eaten anything so I brought you some Chicken Soup from Oscar’s or, if you are up to it, I have Chinese food, Szechuan style, and a couple of Tsing Taos from the Quiet Dragon.”

A dazed and confused Annie finally yelled, ”Watney! What am I wearing, why do you have my clothes, where the hell am I and what - the - fuck - is - going - on?!” Then slowly she said, “Don’t tell me that we....?”

 

Just then the smell of the Chinese food reached her causing a wave of nausea. Annie half wretched and half gulped, “Uh, oh, my stomach,” then she croaked, “bathroom?” Mark pointed her the right direction and phoned Beck after she stumbled out of the room. 

 

Chris Beck was waiting on the phone when a more subdued Annie returned a few minutes later and said in a quiet pleading voice, “Watney, please, what the hell is going on?”

Mark handed her the phone.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

A short time later an agitated Annie said “The last thing I remember, was leaving to meet CNN and BBC , (Annie’s own short-speak for the media people with whom she dealt on a daily basis), then I awoke here.“

“Dr Beck said I was ‘dosed’ and that my loss of memory was normal and that I will probably never remember the details. And, if this wasn’t already embarrassing enough, he also said I may experience mood swings for the next couple of days.“

 

The she looked up at Mark and said “He also said that you refused to tell him how all this happened.” 

 

Mark spoke slowly and softly, laying out all that had happened at Busby’s, explained how he had decided to follow the van, and then what he found happening behind the office building. He also told her that she had apparently fought hard and had nearly blinded the driver in one eye and left him with deep scratches on his face. “I did see bastard lifting your skirt, but he had no time to physically assault you” Mark told her, “In fact, he seemed more interested in recording you.” 

Annie was clearly upset and she started pacing around the room, mumbling and cursing. 

“Should I continue?” Mark asked. She nodded and he described bringing her here to his apartment, how he called Beck to come and check her out medically. “By the way” Mark commented, “Dr. Beck undressed you, I wasn’t even in the room! I only took your clothes to get them cleaned because they picked up some weird smell in the van.” 

Annie said nothing, but stopped pacing, sat down, and put her head in her hands. 

Mark then laid out where everything now stood. 

“We have the bastard who did this to you and he is being kept someplace by Vogel’s security man until you decide what you want to do. I haven’t reported anything to the Police or told anyone at NASA. Beck only knows you were ‘dosed’ but none of the details. Vogel only knows I asked to borrow his ESA security man but he doesn’t know why. Only Vogel’s security man knows most of what happened because he has the van and the pervert and he was able to figure it out on his own, but he doesn’t know your name or who you are.” 

 

“Soon you are going to have to decide what you want to do, but not right this minute.”

Annie, again agitated said, “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do to that son-of a-bitch bastard....” But the mood swings Beck warned were surfacing and Annie began to cry, almost uncontrollably. “That fucking son-of-a-bitch!” she said through sobs. 

Mark sat down next to Annie and after a couple minutes he took her hand. She eventually leaned onto Mark’s shoulder and continued to cry for a few more minutes. Annie was indeed the strong woman she had always seemed to have been, but just like everyone, there were other emotions below the surface. 

“Do you have a friend or a family member you want to contact?” Mark asked. Annie slowly shook her head no. 

“You do have some time to consider your options” Mark continued “ If you want to file a complaint and bring charges we have the surveillance from Busby’s showing your drink being tampered with and parking lot video caught the asshole lifting you into his van. Vogel’s man took photos of the set-up in the van and Beck can attest to your medical condition and has blood samples which show you were dosed. It would be a straight forward case for the police.” 

“All that being said, this is your decision to make!” 

“The most important thing to realize,” Mark said, “ is that the asshole no longer has any sway or control over you. The drugs are working their way out of your system and YOU control your fate, and just as importantly, you control HIS fate, too!” 

“Call the police, don’t call the police, it is totally your decision.”


	3. Press Conference

January 18, 2034

The Johnson Space Center press conference could only be described as unique.

Annie had considered going to one of the major broadcast networks or one of the Webnet organizations to tell her story in a sit-down, one on one interview. 

Teddy Sanders, however, had a better idea. He said that Annie stands up for everyone at NASA at every media conference or event. And, if she were up to it, she could tell her story here at Johnson where her NASA family would want to stand up for her!

 

So, 6 days since that terrible evening, Annie Montrose stood at the podium in the Johnson Space Center largest Press Room. Surrounding her on the stage were 8 different NASA Directors, and nearly 2 dozen astronauts, including the Ares III crew. The back of the room was packed with additional JSC staff.

 

She stunned the reporters in attendance with the story of her drugging, abduction and rescue. While she had no personal memories of the abduction, she recounted the details given to her by others. She described her rescue, her medical treatment and the apprehension of the sexual predator, Mercon Lee Ashton. 

 

She publicly thanked Jeff Maddox, the Busby’s bartender, for his role in her rescue and, without mentioning Mark’s name, she acknowledged her rescue by an anonymous employee of NASA. She explained how he followed the van, disabled her captor, and took her to safety, arranged medical care and organized the detainment of the predator. She made it clear she would NOT be releasing his name because he had done enough for her and he only wanted to get on with his NASA job.

 

Since it would have been obvious to both Beck and Vogel that Mark was Annie’s rescuer, Mark had already confided his role in Annie’s rescue to the entire Ares III crew and, per his request, they would keep it quiet.

Annie went on to explain that two days later, she had recovered enough to contact the police. She said the police and District Attorney would hold their own press conferences this afternoon to report on the case against Ashton. 

Annie was emphatic in saying she opted not to take advantage of the victim shield law, which would have allowed her to remain anonymous, instead she wanted to confront her attacker head on in public. Annie then encouraged other victims of this predator to come forward, or for that matter, any one else who was a victim of another predator.

“It is important” she said “that we stand up to these bastards to let them know we will not allow them to get away with this!”

Annie then said she would answer questions. 

 

That’s when things took a turn for the surreal. Instead of asking questions, the entire press corps stood, as did all of the JSC personnel in attendance, including the directors and astronauts on stage, and they all applauded and cheered for several minutes.


	4. What now?

\-- Annie’s Conundrum

Saturday morning, 5 weeks later, Mark Watney was taping up the last of many boxes which contained the majority of his personal belongings. His boxes were being put into storage because, that afternoon, he was moving into NASA housing where he would be living for next several months during his intensive preparations for the Ares III mission. 

Rick Martinez was helping and had just left the apartment taking several cartons down in the freight elevator to the parking garage where he was loading them into a rental van.

At the sound of the building’s entry buzzer, Mark checked the lobby monitor and saw Annie Montrose staring up at the surveillance camera giving him the finger! He laughed and buzzed through the lobby. In less than a minute she burst into in his apartment. 

“What the fuck Watney?” Annie asked, “Were you evicted?

“No, I’m moving into NASA housing this afternoon,” Mark replied 

Annie smirked saying “Yeah I know. That’s why I came by this morning.”

“Is everything okay?” Mark asked, suddenly concerned.

“Its all just shiny!” Annie said with full on sarcasm as she walked further into the room. 

“The shrink recommended by Shields has been very helpful and since the press conference and I have successfully kept that perverted bastard out of my gray matter, however,” Annie continued in a quieter tone, “on a different front, no, everything’s not okay. The shrink said I needed to talk to you directly about this, so here I am.”

Mark looked at her quizzically. 

Tentatively, Annie began, “The one problem I still have, the one thing that remains unresolved since that night, is ....you.”

A little agitated, she went on “You saved me that night! I don’t remember anything that happened but it was you who looked out for me, who rescued me, who made sure I was safe when I couldn’t even sit up, let alone stand, on my own. And it was you who caught that perverted bastard!” 

Then more quietly she said, “It was you who sat with me the next day when I was totally fucked up by everything that had happened and you who gave me the opportunity to take back my life from that asshole.” 

 

Annie sat in one of the remaining chairs and continued “I’ve always been very independent and self sufficient, but that night my well being was totally out of my control and in your hands and you took care of me.” 

“Look, Annie,” Mark interrupted, “friends look out for one another, there is really nothing more that needs to be said about it.”

“Bullshit!” Annie exclaimed. “Of course there are things to say, I just don’t know how to say them!”

Then she added quietly, “And lets face it, while we knew who one another were, we were only colleagues of a sort, we certainly weren’t friends when this went down.” 

Mark interrupted, “I couldn’t let that asshole harm you, it was as simple as that.”

With some exasperation, Annie said “That’s my point exactly, that reflects the kind of person you are and the kind of person I would like to really like to get to know better.”

Annie stood up and began pacing, the said, “We never had the normal ‘get to know you then accept you for who you are’ feelings that buildup around a friendship or even the intense feelings or passion than can develop when dating someone.”

 

She stopped in front of Mark and continued, “Yet you, and your fucking smile, have worked their way into my head! Every night I wear your damned Cubs sweatshirt to bed, I crave Chinese food all the time and I am even growing a fucking ficus tree!” 

Mark laughed.

“It’s not funny!” Annie exclaimed “Men don’t get to look up my skirt unless it’s foreplay and you have already done that, so I don’t really know how to act around you. It’s like the bad dream where you show up at the restaurant for a blind date only to be naked! Where is there to go after that?”

Mark just stood there grinning and shrugged his shoulders. 

Annie threw an empty box at Mark. 

“I was married to an SOB of an astronaut once for almost a year,” Annie explained, “He was a cocky bastard who couldn’t keep his pants zipped. Then I lived for 5 months with another astronaut and but she was more independent than I and didn’t want to ever commit to any kind of relationship. Plus she slept around as much as my Ex.”

Annie sat down again and put her head in her hands, and continued “Now, here I am, falling for yet another fucking astronaut, and one I hardly know at that! But he is someone with whom I would trust my life. So yeah, I have some conflict.” 

Looking at the floor Annie said “The problem is you already know that I am more than just fond of you.” Looking up at Mark she continued ”I really want the chance to be around you and get to know you.” 

“But, of course, we don’t really have time for that,” sighed Annie, “and things aren’t likely to get any better soon. We are both incredibly busy with little time to socialize and now that your mission training has begun in earnest, we will rarely see each other.”

“Even harder for me to handle,” Annie paused as her ears turned slightly pink, then she continued, “is that even after a very obvious attempt on my part last week, you wouldn’t sleep with me! That was, by the way, pretty fucking insulting!” 

 

Just then, Rick came into the apartment with the hand-truck and said “Hey Annie, how delightful see your lovely face this morning.” 

“Fuck you too, Martinez!” Annie growled

Rick was laughing as he and Mark put the last of the boxes on the hand-truck.

 

After Martinez left, Annie continued, “So tell me Mark, what are we? Friends? Co-workers? Acquaintances? Victim and hero? Because if that’s all we are I am going to need yet another fucking therapist!”

Annie began again, “I know I am older than you...”

Mark cut Annie off. “Stop with that older than me shit. 5 years is nothing.” He paused a few seconds before speaking.”

“You are one of the most amazing people I know, and I have met some amazing and talented people at NASA, including everyone on our crew.”

“Oh shit”, said Annie, “here comes the ‘it’s not you, its me’ speech!”

“No!” said Mark, “Please, just listen.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

\-- Mark’s Solution

Mark began again, “When I was just an ASCAN, Ginger Dalton spoke to all the candidates. This was shortly after she returned on Ares I so we hung on every word. One thing she impressed upon us was the incredible talent of the people who worked at NASA, all of whom were instrumental in any success we achieved as astronauts.” 

Looking at Annie he said, “You were one of the people she specifically listed as an example. She told us that you had only been at NASA for four years, but with your obvious skills and talent with the media, you could have named your price in D.C., on Madison Avenue or in the entertainment industry, but that you chose to stay at NASA.” 

“At that point I had already seen you, of course, on-line and on TV, you were everywhere there was NASA news. I mean I couldn’t have NOT noticed the extremely attractive redhead on camera. But until Ginger spoke to us I naively thought you were just another good-looking talking head, reading press releases.” 

Annie started to interrupt, but Mark put up his hand to stop her and continued, “Unfortunately that was the way I saw all the media people, obviously I was wrong!” 

Shaking his head, Mark explained “I saw you at JSC a few weeks later in a hallway working with Mitch and Teddy. No that’s wrong, you were were TELLING Mitch and Teddy how to deal with the very public breakup of Stoney Jefferds, (former Commander of the Demeter missions) and his wife in the Johnson Space Center parking lot. 

You told Teddy how things should be handled and he listened to you. You told Mitch what Commander Jefferds was to say during his press conference and more importantly what he was NOT to say. “ 

“You were then, and are still now, in control of all those situations. You own that media room!”

That got a smile from Annie.

“A smart self confident women who, as a bonus, is also funny and very attractive - well that is an amazing combination!” Mark was smiling. “ So yes, I would very much like to get to know you better, too!”

“Up until that terrible night we never really got to know one another and, other than when you gave your occasional, ‘listen up you assholes’ or ‘don’t you fuck with me’ rants aimed at all the astronauts, you and I never really interacted.” 

“And now, just like you, I don’t really know how we should ‘behave’ with one another. I certainly didn't want you to feel like I was trying to take advantage of the terrible situation in which you found yourself” 

 

“You know, NASA has guidelines on how to do everything including using the bathroom in zero Gs, but there are no guidelines for what I should do after driving a beautiful dosed woman to my apartment and then stashing her in my bedroom for safekeeping!” 

“If it makes you feel better, last week when you made it obvious you were open to sleeping together, I found NOT sleeping with you was as difficult as anything I have had to do in astronaut training, including isolation and the centrifuge! But I thought it was important that neither you or I felt that sleeping with you was some kind of ‘reward’ or a ‘thank you gesture.’ 

"When we sleep together I want it to be because we want it for the same reasons.” 

 

“Wait,” Annie interrupted, “did you say WHEN, we sleep together?”

 

Mark grinned, “Look, I know its a long time, but can we just say that we’ll get through the next couple of years of my training and mission and that, unless you find someone else, when I come back from the verse we start seeing one another and figure our how things go from there?”

“And how am I supposed to know when you might be ready to move forward with a relationship?” Annie asked.

“Oh, don’t worry, we astronauts always give a thumbs-up when things are GO!”


	5. Mindy Park / Annie Montrose

Mindy Park / Annie Montrose

 

Sol 6 was devastating to everyone at NASA. After her shift ended at 3 a.m., Mindy Park from SATCON was in a bit of a haze from the events of the day. 

As a rain fell she walked toward her car across the mostly empty parking lot. To her left she noticed a car with a crunched rear bumper that had apparently backed into a light stanchion. The headlights were on and the windshield wipers were working, but the car was just sitting there. 

As Mindy angled toward the car she could see someone in the drivers seat with head in hands. Concerned, she began jogging toward the car. She tapped on the window and when the driver lifted her head slightly and Mindy could see it was Annie Montrose. 

Annie’s shoulders were hunched and she was shaking with wracking sobs, sobs which Mindy could hear from outside the car. She motioned to Annie to lower the window but Annie didn’t respond. 

Mindy walked around to the passenger side and, as she slid into the car she asked, “Ms Montrose, are you injured?” Annie shook her head no but her sobs wouldn’t let here speak. Mindy reached over to take her right hand and held it for several minutes until Annie finally calmed down enough to catch her breath. 

Mindy quietly asked, “Is it Mark Watney?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Mindy drove them to Annie’s co-op and once in her 24th floor apartment, Annie opened all the curtains and poured them both three fingers of scotch. Mindy asked if there was any club soda instead. Annie said, “Good, more scotch for me” and directed Mindy to the small refrigerator behind the bar for the club soda. 

“I think I have seen you a couple of times in the hallways but I am sorry I don’t remember your name” Annie said between sips of Scotch. 

“No reason you should, I’m Mindy Park and I work 2nd trick in SATCON.” 

“Well, thank you Mindy Park, this is the second time in the last couple years someone has rescued me.” 

Mindy chuckled, “Ms Montrose, I hardly rescued you, you were totally safe in your car, you just needed some time.”

“All right ‘Miss Stickler for Detail‘ “ Annie smirked, “then we’ll say you assisted me when I was in a lousy fucking situation. And call me Annie.” 

“You’re welcome, Annie, unfortunately the news today hit a lot of people hard.”

 

Annie went quiet, then she continued, “I am very good at putting on a professional mask and shoving my feelings aside, which is particularly important with the job I have. Today, I got through several damn briefings and 3 separate Q & A sessions with media from around the world but, alone in my car, backing into that fucking light post because I could barely see through the rain and tears, I finally gave into it all.”

 

“Annie,” Mindy said forcefully, “ you weren’t in the press room doing your job, you were on your own time and you are allowed to be a woman with feelings in your own friggin’ car! ”

 

They sat quietly for another moment, sipping their drinks. 

“Mindy, is there someplace you have to be right now?” Annie asked, “Is there a husband, boyfriend, roommate, or somebody else expecting you?”

“No, I’m alone, I mean I live alone” Mindy replied.

“Look, I have to be back at Johnson by 9:00 a.m.” Annie said looking at the time, “but maybe until then you could stay for what is left of the night? I know its a lot to ask, you don’t even know me and you have been a tremendous comfort already, but I have a spare bedroom and I would really appreciate it if you would stay.” 

Mindy thought for a moment and said, “okay, sure, I can stay.”

 

After 45 minutes or so, sleep wouldn’t come to Mindy and she could hear someone talking in the living room.

She left the bedroom and found Annie in the living room dictating over Skype. Mindy stood quietly listening.

In a rapid fire manner Annie said:

“Item # 5. Commander Stinson, along with Commander Lewis’s husband, Robert, and Major Martinez’s wife, Marissa, are scheduled on an 8:00 a.m. NASA jet to Chicago where they will call on the Watney’s. Ask Mitch if Stinson can take the point with the Chicago Media. His reputation as Commander of Ares I and first person to walk on Mars give him a standing that must be respected. He should be able to provide a buffer for the Watney’s, initially at least, from the media.”

“Item #6. Ares II Commander Paulin will be invaluable here at JSC to provide a breakdown of what must have happened and how decisions would have been made on Mars and in the M.A.V. He can also speak to what the crew is facing on Hermes.”

When Annie paused for a second Mindy interrupted, “don’t you ever sleep?”

 

Turning toward Mindy, Annie said “There’s a lot to do and organize and, frankly, this helps me get through it all” she sighed, then continued “You don’t seem to be sleeping either, I’ll take a break if would you like some tea.” “Gerald” she said into Skype, “Thats all for now, circulate it to the directors as is”

 

Both woman ended up on the sofa together. Mindy was wearing an Ares I MISSION TO MARS t-shirt Annie had left for her in the spare bedroom. Annie was wearing a Chicago Cubs sweatshirt.

Sipping her tea Mindy commented, “so you’re Cubs fan?”

“No,” said Annie quietly, “I never followed sports. A very close friend gave me this sweatshirt and it reminds me of him.” After a pause, Annie whispered, “it was Mark’s.”

 

Mindy stared for a moment, then realization set in. “Oh,” Mindy replied quietly, “I am so sorry Annie. I didn’t know that you and Mark Watney... no wonder you are so upset! How horrible for you. I, I don’t think I knew that Mark was involved with anyone, there was never a hint of it in the media. 

“We were not really involved, at least not yet, but we were heading that way." 

"How are YOU doing, Annie?” asked Mindy. 

"I can’t think about myself right now,” Annie said quietly, “all I can think of is Mark, dying on Mars, doing what he looked forward to doing his entire life.”

 

Both women were quite for a while

“Can I tell you a secret Mindy?” Annie quietly said, “A secret about Mark that no one at NASA knows. A secret only a handful people know, including my therapist who, by the way, is un-fucking-reachable because she is in the middle of a 10 day hike in Patagonia!” Annie huffed. 

Mindy listened to Annie’s secret about Mark and was left speechless.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Over the next few weeks, Annie and Mindy exchanged messages regularly, shared a quick cup of coffee when possible and at least twice a week, after her shift ended, Mindy would spend the night. 

The visits really helped Annie manage the stress under which she was working, plus Mindy was enjoying the company of Annie’s Tootsie Roll Pop persona - “Tough on the Outside & Soft on the Inside” 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sol 49 

Wide awake at 3:00 a.m., with heart pounding, Mindy found an empty office and called Annie from JSC. 

“I know it is the middle of the night but please wake up and listen, okay?”

“I have already called Venkat Kapoor and he is on his way in to JSC right now. He most certainly will be sharing what I have discovered with a few other people tonight, including you but, I have been ordered to keep everything secret for now. But I just have to tell YOU, so don’t let on that you know.”

“Know what?” Yawned Annie. 

“Mark is alive!” Mindy said.

 

There was a pause, then, “Mindy, what the fuck!“


	6. Mindy and the Astronauts

Mindy and the Astronauts 

 

Beginning on Sol 49, when word got around JSC that someone in SATCON had figured out that Mark Watney was alive, everyone at NASA wanted to know who made the discovery. At the head of the line of curious people were the crews of Ares I & II.

Commander Jack Stinson of Ares I and Commander Maddox Paulin of Ares II, along with the 5 additional Ares I & II crew members still in the Houston area, inundated Kapoor with requests to meet Mindy Park. Consequently, Kapoor arranged for Mindy to have dinner with the Ares I & II crews in three weeks.

 

In the meantime, once Mindy was given her Watney watch responsibilities, with the ever moving schedule, Annie insisted that Mindy stay with her. Annie lived 40 minutes closer to JSC and it would save Mindy traveling so far when her new schedule left her sleep deprived. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Major C Y Bassett, the Ares II Pilot, and Rick Martinez were friendly rivals. Bassett could vividly imagine what Martinez will feel like when he learns he left Watney behind. 

But he also knew Rick well enough that he would personally want to thank whomever figured out that Mark was still alive and Bassett was determined that he was not going to wait three weeks to make sure this person knew how grateful Martinez will be. So he decided to make an end run around Kapoor and went to Annie Montrose. He figured she would be in the know and might be helpful.

“Only because I owe you big time, Chuck Y” Annie said while writing something on a small piece of paper. “No one can know anything about this!” After handing him the paper she said “Come to my apartment tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., and don’t let anyone else see that address. Now beat it, Major, I have work to do.” 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The Following Morning

 

Pacing back and forth Mindy said, “Annie, I have been trying to avoid this! You know, as well as I, that I just happened to be sitting in the right chair at the right time, anyone would have seen what I saw.” 

“Bullshit!” Annie exclaimed, “A lot of very smart JSC people have said you didn’t just ‘see things’, you analyzed what those photographs meant and now because of that I have a chance to get Mark back!” 

Annie took a sip of coffee before continuing, “Mindy, this isn’t punishment you know! There are some really quality people, heroes even, who just want to say thank you. Please let them.” 

“And this morning?” Mindy asked.

Annie took a minute to study her cup, then said “C Y Bassett is one of the really good guys, you need to believe me. I know from first hand experience since he leant a hand with my “Ellie” situation.” 

Annie smiled, “Plus, Mindy, I’m sure have you seen Bassett on TV, yes? Well let me tell you, he is even better looking in person!“

 

10:30 a.m. sharp Annie’s doorman called to say a Major Bassett was here to see her. “Send him up” Annie replied. 

Mindy was nervous and making noises like she was going to hide in the bedroom. Pulling her back in the living room Annie said, “No way you are running away, now sit!”

Less than a minute later the doorbell rang and Annie greeted the visitor and brought him into the living room. “Mindy” she announced “ this is Major C.Y. Bassett or as everyone calls him, Chuck Y” 

A nervous Mindy saw a very handsome square shouldered man, at least 8 or 10 inches taller then her 5’4”, he was strong jawed with jet black hair and the most amazing green eyes. She stared into his eyes as he walked forward to shake her hand and she croaked “Nice to meet you.” 

 

Annie chuckled slightly, “Chuck Y, this is Mindy Park, the woman of the of the moment at JSC. She was the person who analyzed the Ares III Hab site photos on Sol 49 and figured out that Mark Watney was alive.” 

“Annie’s P. R. roots are showing” Mindy said “I only happened to be on duty when the photos came in, I am sure anyone would have seen what I saw.”

 

“I told you,” Annie said with some exasperation, “she just refuses to take any credit what so ever.” 

He smiled and said “Mindy, it is a real pleasure and honor to meet you. And a small piece of advice, don’t waste your modesty on an astronaut, if you aren’t braggin’ they don’t even hear to you!” 

 

Annie ushered them to the living room and left briefly to make to refreshments.

“Because Rick Martinez is my friend, Mindy, I wanted to be the first to say thank you for him. He will be devastated to learn that Mark was alive when he left Mars because ‘never leave a man behind’ is at the very root of the code to those of us who serve in the military. But knowing that someone is looking out for Watney, well I just want to be the one to say thank you for all of us, but particularly for Rick. I am sure Commander Lewis will be hit very hard by the news and the rest of the crew as well but, as the Pilot for Ares III, Rick will probably feel it the worst, I know I would.” 

 

“Even though I don’t agree I did all that much,” Mindy said graciously, “thank you very much, I am just glad I was able to help a little” 

 

Bassett was sure that to come up with the photo analysis as she did she must be pretty smart, and combined with her modesty, it’s was very becoming. Of course he couldn’t help but notice she was an attractive woman, too. Her features were a striking blend of Asian, probably Korean, and American.

Annie came in with a coffee for she and Chuck Y and tea for Mindy.

 

“So tell me,” Mindy asked, “why Chuck Y instead of just Chuck?” 

 

Annie laughed and said, “Don’t waste your breath Mindy, that is the million dollar secret that know one knows, and Chuck Y ain’t tellin’!”

Bassett smiled and said, “Tell you what Mindy, come to dinner with me and I might be convinced to tell you the story”

“Whoa” said Annie, ”Mindy, if you don’t say yes to dinner right now I’ll put a pillow over your face and suffocate you in your sleep! Everyone wants to know that secret!”

Through gritted teeth, Mindy said “Annie, calm down.” 

 

“Chuck, sorry, I mean Chuck Y” said Mindy turning to face him head on, ”you don’t have to buy me a dinner for doing my job!”

“Mindy,” he slowly explained “ This wouldn’t be a ‘thank you dinner,’ this would be an ‘I just met a smart attractive woman and would really like to get to know her’ dinner. “

“Yikes!” said Annie, as she picked up a piece of mail from her coffee table and began fanning herself, “did the temperature just go up several degrees in here?”

Mindy was demonstrably blushing as she stammered ” In that case uh, I uh, sure, okay.” 

“Was that a yes?” asked Annie.

Mindy turned and said, “Annie, hush!”

“Yes, Chuck Y, however,” she said ”things are really busy right now, can we wait until things calm down a little at JSC?” 

“Of course Mindy. I can be patient”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Three Weeks later

 

While only originally planned for the seven Ares I & II crew members still living in the Houston area, once the other crew members learned of the “Mindy Park” dinner they made it a point to get to Houston. Consequently, the dinner with Mindy was expanded to include all but 1 of the 12 crew members, with only Ellie Hansen from Ares II missing. 

As Mindy feared, she was thanked profusely, for doing what she thought anyone would have done, but Annie’s words from earlier rang in her ears “shut up and take the compliment!”

Each and every crew member made a point of thanking her personally and she pretended to meet Chuck Y for the first time.

 

“Commander Stinson” Mindy said at one point “ Mark was doing something to one of the Rovers today and I couldn’t really tell what it was but I included it in my report and Engineering began discussing various possibilities.” 

Mindy continued, “Now I decided a long time ago that rather than creating questions with reports I would much prefer to give answers. I was wondering if in the future I might check with you occasionally to get your opinion on what may be going on in similar situations, before I submit my report?” 

Stinson smiled and said “I like your thinking, and please call me Jack!” 

 

“Mindy,” Jack continued, “only astronauts know what it is like actually living in a spacecraft for months at a time. Only they have the experience of setting foot on the moon or another planet.”

“To everyone else at NASA it is all theoretical, based on science as they understand it. But believe me, planning a mission and actually executing a mission are two different matters altogether!”

 

Chuck Y said “It’s good to remember, when you are looking at the photos of Watney or his movements on Mars, the best minds at JSC can only make guesses, whereas astronauts can speak from experience.” 

 

“Ya know Mindy,” Ginger Dalton (Ares I) spoke up, “Astronauts haven’t always been very high on the totem pole in NASA. There has been some improvement in NASA’s overall thinking, but frequently astronauts are treated like a small part of a science experiment, a part that is far more likely to fail than any other piece of scientific equipment. Not informing the Ares III crew of Watney’s survival is a perfect example, NASA fears they might be ‘less efficient’ or even break down if they know the truth.”

 

“Consequently,” Malik Baptist (Ares I) said “astronauts are considered the weakest link in space exploration. So, the reins on astronauts are held firmly by JSC, with every day planned out to the minute and the crew must not deviate - they are to follow the program exactly. Astronauts can rarely act on their own, they are to follow instructions exactly as given and, if some problem occurs, they are to follow contingency plans that have been written in stone.” 

“Thus, when faced with a huge problem like Watney stranded on Mars, astronauts aren’t even considered for their input, after all, they only do what they are told!” 

Jack Stinson continued “So this long winded answer has been a resounding YES!” 

“When you are trying to figure out what Watney may be doing, or why he is doing it, please consider that any of us at his table would be very happy to give you a perspective that no one else at JSC can.”

 

Commander Paulin addressed everyone at the table, “I bet everyone at JSC is pissing their pants wondering how Watney has survived this long without their guidance!” That drew a laugh from the entire table.


	7. Watney Watch  Part 1

Sol 98

 

When Mark was told to hang around for a photograph he had an idea. 

Annie, of course was pissed off at his pose for the photo. She wanted something more serious for all the world to see and began bitching to Venkat. What the hell, thought Annie, why the hell would he pose like The Fonz? 

Then she noticed his hands...two ‘thumbs-up!’

Mindy figured it out right away when she saw the photo and was waiting up when Annie got home. They celebrated together!

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sol 119 

“Oh no, oh no, oh no!” Mindy whispered to herself, “Please be alive!”

A two tier emergency contact system had been set up so Mindy could send just one message which would reach several key personnel. 

A LEVEL ONE message meant there was a problem, please make contact at once. 

A LEVEL TWO message was sent if a fatal or potentially fatal situation arose with Watney. 

Protocol for those receiving a Level Two message would be to NOT contact Mindy, but to get to JSC (JPL for Bruce Ng) as soon as possible. This would allow Mindy to begin dealing with the problem rather than having to drop what she was doing to discuss the problem over the phone with several different callers.

The message Mindy sent in this case was Level Two and was short and to the point: 

To: Crisis team

LEVEL TWO: HAB BREACH

From: M. Park

 

Because of the hour, no one on the crisis team was at JSC, so all would have to travel into the office.

 

The three successive photos had showed the Hab deflated and the Airlock positioned out past the parked rover. 

While waiting for the team to arrive, Mindy checked her astronaut contact list, Bassett was the first number. She sent him the latest Hab photo and asked if he would go over it with her. 

“When did this happen?” he asked. 

“Just now” Mindy replied.

 

As he studied the photos he said, “Lots of debris... the Airlock was blown a long way... hmmm, I think this was a decompression event, not an explosion. I would think an explosion would have torn or ripped a hole or holes in the Hab and sent debris in a lot of different directions, this debris seems to have all come from the Airlock port in the Hab.”

“I don’t see Watney, do you Mindy?”

“No” Mindy said quietly, “but none of the earlier photos show him outside the Hab prior to this incident.” With her voice shaking slightly she said, “He must have been inside Hab.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Mindy” he said, “I think there is an excellent chance he was in his EVA suit and in the airlock when this occurred” 

“How can you know that?” Mindy asked.

“Look, if indeed it is an Airlock breach, as we think, then it is much more likely the Airlock was being pressurized or depressurized when the breach occurred and Watney would have been in his EVA suit inside the Airlock. It is far less likely that this type of breach would have occurred if pressure in the Airlock was static. The change of pressure is when there is the most stress on the components.” 

“That doesn’t mean” he continued, “ that Mark isn’t in trouble, “if, indeed, he was in the Airlock then he would have been launched across the compound with the Airlock. It could have been a very rough ride.”

More photos kept coming in but Mindy couldn’t find any sign of Mark. 

 

Henderson was first to arrive at JSC, then Sanders, Annie and Kapoor. They were all in the Director's office, with Bruce Ng connected from JPL. Mindy set up her computer and connected to the large displays. Each successive satellite photo was displayed as it arrived. 

Nothing had changed.

 

Mindy explained to everyone her discussion with Major Bassett and the two big conclusions they had drawn. That Mark was probably 1) in his EVA suit and 2) he was probably in the airlock when decompression occurred. 

As the satellite photos continued to document the Hab site there was still no sign of Watney or anything new. Finally the sun had gone down on Mars and there would be nothing more to see until Martian morning. But there still was hope Watney had been in his EVA suit.

As the last meeting broke up Henderson took Mindy aside and said, “This was very good work! Your connecting with Bassett was very smart and saved a great deal of time and effort on my part trying to convince Sanders and Kapoor that Watney could very well have survived this.” 

Mitch continued, “A few weeks ago I wondered who you were and why you were in our crisis meetings, now I don’t think we could have them without you!”

 

As she returned to her workstation, the kind words from Henderson made Mindy feel a little better but she was still worried about Mark. If he had survived why hadn’t he contacted them or appeared in any of the photos. She was also worried about Annie, she hadn't had a chance to talk privately with her all day.

Chuck Y showed up a couple of minutes later and told Mindy he was driving she and Annie home. They both had tough days and he wanted to get them home safely. As he dropped them off he arranged to pick Mindy up in time for her to be on station when Sol 120 satellite photos began arriving.

As it turned out, Sol 120 was when movement of the Airlock across approximately 50 meters toward the Hab was proof of Watney’s survival.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

After the Iris resupply failed Mindy asked Chuck Y to come over that night. He sat on the sofa between Annie and Mindy, with an arm around each and they stayed that way throughout the night.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Running down the hallway after the second “Project Elrond” meeting Annie was trying to catch up with Mitch Henderson. 

“Damn it Henderson, will you hold up for a minute? ” Annie was a little out of breath “Sonovabitch! Ya know, running in heels is fuckin’ hard!”

Mitch snarled and said, “Annie, I’m not in the mood to fuck around and I don’t really care about the media right now!”

“Mitch, I’m on your side in this!” Annie huffed “There has to be something we can do.”

Mitch looked up and down the hallway then pulled Annie into an empty conference room. He quietly said “I have the germ of an idea but I don’t know how yet to make it work. It really means getting Commander Lewis involved but there is no way to get a message to her without everyone knowing. And trying to contact anyone else on the crew is a problem because Control sees all the messages before they are forwarded and I haven’t figured out a way around that, either.”

Annie thought a moment and then said, ”My first year roommate at Oberlin was German”

Mitch thought for a moment then smiled and said “Annie, I could kiss you” 

“Pull this off” said Annie, “und ich werde dich kussen!” (And I will kiss you!)

 

Later that night, sitting on the sofa next to Mindy, Annie said: “I need a really big favor.” 

Elongating both syllables, Mindy replied, “ Oooo-kaaaay, what is it?”

Annie breathed deeply then exhaled and said “First thing in the morning, I need you to distract Tim Anderson’s attention in Control, maybe talk to him or do something just to draw his attention away from his screen for a few minutes. Can you do that?”

Cocking her head slightly, Mindy said, “I don’t understand.” 

“Well, that’s part of the favor” Annie explained, “I need you to do it even though I can’t tell you why. I don’t want to risk getting you into trouble.”

“Annie, what in the world is going on?”

“It’s for Mark” Annie said. “That’s all I can say, if you insist I’ll tell you, but I’m hoping you won’t insist. Just keep in mind that I’ll do anything to save Mark.”

 

Mindy looked down while thinking for a minute then said, “At the JSC picnic a couple of years ago Tim told me he thought Korean-American women looked exotic” grinning she continued, “ he had already had a couple beers but I got the feeling it was a clumsy come-on from a nerd. I guess I could flirt with him a little, maybe that would work?”

Annie went into her bedroom for privacy and then spoke for several minutes on the phone.

 

A day and a half later word spread of the ‘Rich Purnell Maneuver’ and it’s execution by the Hermes crew. But because it was only explained to everyone after its execution, there were a lot of questions and speculation ran rampant.

Later that night Mindy noticed Annie’s mood was more positive than it had been in a long time. Mindy was far too smart to believe in coincidences and asked Annie, “Am I to assume I played a very small part in the ‘Rich Purnell Maneuver’?” 

“Mindy,” Annie replied, “I think Korean-American women are exotic, too! And smart! And very fuckin’ sexy!” She then leaned over and gave Mindy a kiss.

Mindy laughed and said “Annie, were you in the scotch before I got home?” 

“Maybe one or two......or four!” Annie went to bed smiling for one of the few times since Mindy had known her.

 

The next week Mindy’s apartment lease was up for renewal but Annie argued that Mindy wasn’t using her own apartment at all and she should just move in with her. Mindy couldn’t think of a reasonable argument why she shouldn’t. She put her furniture into storage and once Mark was safely home she would move out.


	8. Watney Watch  Part 2

Sol 198

Today was Ginger Dalton’s turn to be Mindy’s crew contact and she was sitting next to Mindy at her station.

“I haven’t seen Mark since his Morse Code message about the Pathfinder shorting-out,” Mindy said. “Why do you think has he stopped working on the rover modifications?”

“Because,” Ginger replied, “he has no idea what he is supposed to do next. NASA prefers to provide astronauts with instructions in a step by step process,” Ginger explained, “and in this case I think that was short-sighted.”

 

“Ginger... sometimes it sounds to me like you and the rest of the Ares crew don’t think that highly of NASA,” said Mindy.

“Oh no, Mindy, it’s not that at all.” 

“I owe everything to NASA, as do all of the other astronauts. Their brilliant work has resulted in a space program that has us walking on Mars and reaching out to other planets.”

“AS you well know, being an Astronaut isn’t easy” she continued, “it takes a lot of hard work, dedication and exhaustive, sometimes excruciating, training just to earn the right to be considered for the chance go to the moon or Mars. But in the end, it is an amazing experience and we get nearly all of the glory.” 

“Yet we couldn’t reach anything 100 feet above our own heads were it not for NASA and the thousands of brilliant hardworking people here. People who work in anonymity, without any glory, simply for the satisfaction of solving difficult problems, creating innovative equipment, or conducting ground breaking research with the goal of advancing knowledge in the exploration of space.”

“You‘ll find no bigger supporters of NASA, Mindy, than the astronauts.”

 

“However, just because NASA has our respect and support doesn’t mean we don’t feel we can’t criticize them when we see what we perceive as problems, particularly in management. And I bet you anything that all those hardworking NASA people to whom I alluded feel the same way.” 

 

“Ok” Mindy said, “I see what you’re saying, but why do you say NASA was shortsighted, now?”

“Because,” Ginger said, “even though NASA was ‘burned’ just a few months ago by Watney being stranded with no means of communication, they refused to prepare for the potential that communications to Mars could break down a second time.” 

“Oh wait, I take it back, they prepared Mark to send Morse Code messages to us. Big Whoop! That does nothing to get him Schiaparelli !”

 

“A ‘lack of imagination’ they called it, when trying to explain the lack of communications equipment in place on Mars when Mark was first stranded.” 

“I don’t necessarily agree with that. Someone being stranded on Mars wasn’t in the realm of what anyone could have remotely expected to ever happen. When making contingency plans for potential mission problems, NASA had to consider that if an astronaut ever were accidentally stranded on Mars, all the communication equipment in the world would not have been enough to alter the fact that there was simply no way to get back to Mars in time to effect a rescue! So it just wasn’t a contingency to even consider.” 

“It turns out though, that the Universe is occasionally in a playful mood, so lo and behold, a BOTANIST was left behind on Mars with REAL potatoes to farm. This was someone for whom there was actually a real chance of rescue, if only he could communicate with NASA!”

 

“Now here we are, Mindy, 7 months later, and miracle of miracles, that botanist was smart enough to figure out he MIGHT be able to communicate with Earth through a 40 year old piece of technology.” “By the way, on Sol 49 I didn’t hear anyone at NASA suggest that if only Mark would get the Pathfinder we could communicate. No one at NASA, including yours truly, thought of it, only Mark did!”

“Here, I feel, NASA has indeed displayed a true ‘lack of imagination‘ by not thinking that an antique piece of space hardware might FAIL ! This is old equipment that was designed to operate for only 30 days maximum and amazingly worked for almost three months. Then it sat almost four decades under the harsh conditions of the Martian environment. Regardless the ultimate cause, how could they NOT ‘imagine’ that it could fail?”

 

“After the Rich Purnell Maneuver on Sol 192, when Pathfinder was still working, NASA could have, as soon as was possible, began sending Mark the information he would need to get to Schiaparelli, but that wasn’t done. NASA instead decided to dole the information out piecemeal, in step by step procedures, as needed.”

“I am guessing they will say they didn’t want to distract Mark with too much information at once. Did they think he was a child who would be unable to concentrate on any one task if he knew the next thirty tasks ahead of him? Bull!”

“Mindy, it just seems very short-sighted to me. At this point, Mark has some general information, where he has to go and when he has to get there, what some of the larger pieces of equipment are he should take, but very little in the way of specifics on how to accomplish that, other than to cut a hole in the roof of the rover. Instead of being able to take advantage of all the NASA brainpower and the plans they had made, he is left to work it all out himself.”

“He’ll need to calculate the power requirements for the trip and figure out where will he get that power. He’ll have to figure out how to navigate 3200 Kilometers without a detailed map. He’ll have to figure out how to fit all the necessary equipment into the rovers. And so on, and so on, and so on.”

 

“Ginger,” Mindy said, “I feel like a fool, I didn’t think of the possibility that communications could fail, either.”

Ginger looked her in the eye and said “It isn’t your JOB to do that! You bear no responsibility in this what-so-ever Mindy! No one could do more for Watney than you, monitoring satellite orbits and analyzing the photos, you look out for Mark every day, and believe me, everyone, and I mean everyone, at NASA knows that.” 

“The line of people here at NASA who want to meet you or thank you for what you are doing would stretch around this campus several times. Kapoor knows that and he knows the pressure and stress under which you are working, with your ever evolving work-sleep cycles. He is watching over you closely and won’t let anyone near you as a distraction!”

With a sideways glance at Mindy, Ginger went on, “I guess it is a good thing Chuck Y is in your Ares crew astronaut rotation or Kapoor would never let him see you!”

Mindy glanced at Ginger and blushed ever so slightly.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Sol 207

 

“I know you’re in love with this guy Annie,” an agitated Mindy said, “I may have fallen for him a bit myself. But 6 FRIGGIN DAYS without any contact?” 

“The whole world is rooting for him to succeed and he couldn’t move a few rocks to let us know what was happening? I am willing to cut the guy some slack, but c’mon!” 

“Whew, got that off my chest!” 

“I’ll take that drink now, Annie,” said Mindy, “Chuck Y, what are you having?”


	9. Satcon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It cannot be stressed enough, how rare it is to find a good manager in a large company or organization. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also...
> 
> We are all just human. Even the best of us sometime imagine personal slights that aren't really there. And regardless of our intentions, sometimes envy and jealousy do rear their ugly heads.

Aidan Vickers had been Mindy Park’s Satcon Manager for two years, but he understood and readily accepted his responsibility for managing Mindy was superseded by Venkat Kapoor once the Watney Watch project began. 

He was, however, still responsible for the remainder of the staff and was concerned with some things he observed, particularly with Mindy’s second shift colleagues. Whispered conversations between staffers when Mindy was at her station, the glances to see which NASA Director or Martian Astronaut was talking to Mindy, followed by slow head shakes, and some outright gossip that was beginning to circulate. 

Unfortunately, some of the staff who were more senior to Mindy, felt slighted that she was given important responsibilities instead of one of them. 

Still others were simply jealous of her interactions with so many Directors, Astronauts and other important NASA people, while contact with her Satcon co-workers was almost non-existent. 

Was she too good for them now, they wondered? 

 

Aidan held a staff meeting where he said everyone should be happy for Mindy’s role in trying to rescue Mark Watney because it reflected well on the people in Satcon who work hard everyday. But feelings of envy or jealousy are not easily allayed. When he continued to overhear snide remarks from a few of the staff he was faced with a tough choice. Go to HR and disrupt what had been a good Satcon team, or find some other way to handle things. 

 

Aidan had an idea of what he would like to do for his staff, but he would need help from someone much higher up JSC organization chart.

 

For some time now he was pretty sure Mindy had become friends with Annie Montrose. Many times over the last few months he had even seen them either arriving or leaving JSC together. Perhaps Ms Montrose might be the person who could help him. 

 

Of course Annie Montrose’s time was very much in demand. Between time with the media, various NASA Directors, and of course now, with the cost of Watney’s rescue climbing, she was spending time working with the Vice President in trying to secure funds from congress for the rescue effort. It might be impossible for him to get to talk to her.

But maybe... 

“Aidan” said Mindy, “I never get to talk to you anymore, I am so busy. I hope everything is going OK with you and with the rest of the gang? I’m sorry, but I can’t really talk right now, Mr Kapoor is on his way down.”

“No problem Mindy, I just want to ask a very quick, but important favor.” he continued, “ I have a problem that requires the help of someone higher in the organization than me and I was hoping maybe you might put in a word with Ms Montrose to give me two minutes of her time? I would be in your debt.”

Mindy smiled and said, “Of course Aidan, I’ll speak to her.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Aidan Vickers?” Annie asked. As she escorted him into her office she said, “Mindy said you needed a couple of minutes.”

“Yes,” he said, “thank you for taking the time Ms Montrose.” 

“Please call me Annie. Time is tight, but I owe Mindy so much that I am glad to speak to you, but we do need to get to the point.”

 

Aidan laid out his plan for his department and the help he would need. Annie agreed and thought she might even be able to improve on his plan a little.

 

One week later, a special dinner at Barbarosa’s Grill preceded by drinks in the lounge, was organized by Aidan for all of the Satcon Staff.

 

Vickers had told Annie about how the staff was beginning to be affected by the seemingly special treatment Mindy was receiving.  
He thought if someone could explain to them exactly how this came about and why she has become so important it would help with moral.  
So he had specifically asked if Annie could persuade Ginger Dalton, who was an excellent speaker and even better ‘people person’ to attend the dinner.

But at Annie’s request, Ginger didn’t come alone, she brought Ares I crew mates, Malik Baptist, and Commander Jack Stinson.

Of course Aidan would have chosen a much more affordable restaurant, one which would have fit his Satcon T & E budget,  
but Annie said this needed to be a ‘special fucking dinner’ and contributed funds from her budget to cover the additional costs.

 

The Satcon staff was star struck to be having dinner with astronauts. And they staff were very impressed that the astronauts moved about the tables chatting with everyone. Aidan was very pleased to see everyone having a good time.

Near the end of dinner Ginger asked if she could say a few words.

 

“Hello everyone,” she began, “Aidan wanted to throw this appreciation dinner for his Satcon staff because he thinks you are a very special group. After having dinner with you this evening I think Malik, Jack and I feel the same way.”

 

“It’s a shame however, that one of your group is missing tonight." 

"Mindy Park is back at JSC in the 9th hour of a 13 hour shift. ” 

“You see, the daylight lasts a long time on Mars right now, and it is important she monitors the Sat-photos to insure everything is going smoothly.“

 

Ginger continued “You know, Mindy has studied and learned to recognize the equipment Watney has and reports to us when there are changes to, or reconfiguration of, the equipment.” 

“She has also learned Morse code so she can tell us what messages Mark is sending.”

“Of course just a few weeks ago she witnessed a Hab Breach which was pretty traumatic for everyone, and we all hope nothing like that happens again.” 

 

Mailk spoke up, “Of course, on top of this, the Martian day is 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, so for her sleep schedule to remain in sync with Watney’s, every three days she has to move her schedule 2 hours later to keep up. Three days later it will move yet again, and so on”

 

After pausing to let things sink in, Ginger continued, “Mindy hasn’t been to her apartment for months now, she stays with a friend who lives a lot closer to the office so she can spend less time traveling back and forth to work and hopefully get an extra 30 minutes sleep.”

“I know Mindy would love to be here this evening to celebrate with the rest of her department, but this is just another thing she has given up to be NASA’s eyes on Mark Watney.” 

 

“Also,” said Ginger, “and please don’t tell her I told you this, her social life is non-existent! " 

“The friends she had before this rarely get to hear from her, and even her family in New York have complained about a lack of communication. Now when there is news about Mark Watney on Mars, they just tell everyone their daughter is watching it as it happens.“

“To top it off, there is this really handsome guy she likes and he has asked her to dinner, but she had to tell him she can’t go, she is just too busy.”

 

It was quiet for 15 or 20 seconds, then Commander Stinson spoke, “I can’t begin to tell you the amount of information Mindy organizes and shares with the people who are responsible for making life and death decisions regarding Mark Watney.” 

“Without her, many of those important decisions would be made in the dark, total guesswork.”

“I can assure you, that if...no I take that back, WHEN he returns from Mars, Mark Watney will owe a huge debt to Mindy Park.” 

Ginger spoke again, “So the next time you see Mindy at her station, please give her a smile or wave, it is really the only interaction she has time to share with her friends and colleagues in Satcon, and it will surely help her through her long days.”

“Now, lets enjoy dessert!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Chuck Y,” Mindy said, ”is it just me or does it seem very quiet in Satcon tonight?”


	10. Watney Watch part 3

Sol 447

“Miss Park, can you please recap Watney’s preparations for his trip, please?”

“Yes Mr. Sanders.”

“Mark is taking 29 solar panels on his trip and has made the necessary adjustments to store them on the Rovers during the trip. 

Venkat spoke up, “That’s good because he will need all the power he can get.”

Mindy then itemized a list of other preparations he had apparently made including, the removal of unnecessary equipment and clutter from the Rovers, the loading of the Oxygenator, the Atmospheric Regulator, two of the Large 9 kwh batteries from the Hab, several various sized tanks, two of which are believed to be 25 liter Liquid Oxygen tanks. 

 

“There is also the ‘room,’ which I described earlier,” reported Mindy, “made of Hab canvas. By the way, it is probably not a workshop, Mr Sanders”

“What is it then, Ms Park?”

“Maddox Paulin told me that any astronaut having spent time on Mars would look at this much differently. He thinks Mark created living quarters connected to life support from the rover.” Mindy continued, “Dox thinks this gives Mark an area in which he can take off his EVA suit, is tall enough so Mark can stand up, walk around a little, relax, and give him room to stretch out fully while sleeping.”

“According to the Ares astronauts, with the Rovers full of extra equipment and supplies, there is little area within which Mark could move or live. It is a smart solution to the serious problem of cramped living while on long distance travel in the rovers!”

 

“There is, however, one major component,” Mindy said, “which we did not see being loaded into the Rovers, the Water Reclaimer. He could have moved it during a satellite gap, but those gaps are smaller now and equipment usually sat outside for a while before being loaded so it is unlikely we would have missed it completely.”

“Is there any reason he would purposely leave it behind?” Kapoor asked no one in particular.

Bruce Ng on the Skype connection replied, “Watney is probably trying to save power where ever he can, and leaving the water reclaimer behind does that. When Watney was in contact with us he was proud of how much water he had made. Once the farm died, however, he had nothing on which to use all that water. I think it is safe to assume some of the non-identifiable tanks to which Mindy alluded are full of Water. Maybe even several hundred liters.”

 

When Bruce finished, Mindy continued by reporting that Mark had spent a great deal of time loading a large amount of supplies for the trip, including, presumably, his potatoes. But since most of these items were smaller they were not easily identifiable in the Sat photos. 

 

“On Sol 439 Mark began driving in large circles, staying relatively close to the Hab,” said Mindy. “He would drive for about 4 hours, then position the solar panels, inflate the spare room, and do nothing outside for the rest of the day. The next morning he ‘broke camp’ by doing all these procedures in reverse, then began the exact same pattern as the day before.”

Bruce interrupted saying, “The engineers are working hard to figure out where Watney found enough power to drive for 4 hours. Life support alone should be using the majority of his power, leaving far less than 4 hours worth of drive time power. We have come up with some energy saving hacks but obviously, Watney must done a little better on his own. We are still looking at it, but my hat is off to this guy!”

 

“We think part of the power savings became evident on day 5 of this driving test” said Mindy. 

“At the end of day 4’s drive Mark left a message saying 'DAY FIVE IS AIR DAY.' He didn’t break camp on day 5, the solar panels remained employed and nothing changed until the day 6 when he broke camp and drove back to the Hab.”

“Malik came up with the thought that ‘Air Day’ had something to do with the Oxygenator.” 

Bruce Ng spoke up, “Engineering agrees with Malik Baptist’s assessment. The Oxygenator was designed to service a crew of 6 people, so Mark might be able to use it only once every few days which leaves more power for the drive. Using the Oxygenator less was on our list of suggestions never made”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sol 449

Mindy called Venkat Kapoor and said, “This is it, Mr Kapoor, Mark deflated the Hab and has left a message that says, DEPARTURE DAY” 

“He is in the Rover and has begun his trip to Schiaparelli”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Ginger, everyone is still puzzled as to how Mark can travel so far each day. So far, Bruce Ng’s people haven’t figured out where he is getting all his power.” 

“Mindy, everyone has to start giving Mark some credit that he has analyzed and re-engineered his equipment to be as efficient as possible. For example, Dox Paulin reminded me that the RTG produces 100 watts of power. While not a huge amount, I’ll bet Watney is somehow using every last watt! And that is just one example of what he might have come up with.” 

 

“By the way, what was that you were eating, Mindy?” 

“Mmmm,” she replied, “there is an amazing cheesecake in the fridge, you want some? Ever since they had their department dinner several months ago, different SATCON colleagues have been trying to make it up to me because I had to work and couldn’t attend. Once a month or so, some sort of amazing treat is left on my desk for me to find when I arrive. Isn’t that thoughtful?”

Ginger smiled and agreed that it was.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

For the first time in a few months, Mindy and Annie finally have matching schedules for a while which means they get to spend a few evenings together. 

“C’mon Annie, we have to stay positive, isn’t that right Chuck Y?”

“Yes Annie,” Chuck Y said, “Mark has spent more than 400 days on Mars, coming up with shortcuts, life hacks and dozens of ways to survive all that has been thrown at him. To think he will not find a way to beat a dust storm is to forget all that he has accomplished already.”

He continued, “Mark survived impalement, farmed potatoes in Martian soil using human manure, he turned rocket fuel into water, tricked out a rover to drive hundreds of kilometers just to retrieve the 40 year old Pathfinder and Sojourner - just so he could establish communications with Earth. He survived a Hab breach and being tossed 50 meters in the air lock. And now he is driving 3200 kilometers in a Rover originally designed to go only a small fraction of that distance!” 

“Quite simply, he isn’t going to be beaten by some Martian dust!”

“I know,” said Annie, “now would you say that at tomorrow’s press briefing?” 

Chuck Y just stood there, and Annie said, “Dammit Bassett, don’t you fuckin’ make me say please.”

“Were you in on this Park?” asked Chuck Y.

Blushing slightly, Mindy replied, “Yes." The she immediately said, "But you are so decent and believable that having you talk to the press would really help tone down the dust storm hysteria the naysayers are fomenting with the public." 

Annie spoke up, "And we need public support for funding." 

Mindy continued, "Annie thought that if you would finally agree to say a few words it would be taken seriously” 

 

Chuck Y looked from Annie to Mindy and back, “Alright, when do you want me there?”

With faux disgust, Chuck Y said, “Mindy, I can’t believe you were complicit in this. You owe me big time!”

Mindy crossed to Chuck Y, stood on her toes and pulled his head down and kissed Chuck Y on the cheek. Smiling she said, “I owe you for so much already, I’ll just add this to the list.”

"You know," he said to them both, "you could have just asked."

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Today’s update meeting was attend by the usual group and, as has been the case for several months now, Annie’s NASA videographer was recording the meetings for internal review later. 

“After employing the solar panels, Mark always takes a couple of short walks. The first walk always appears to be for 20 or 30 meters retracing the Rover Tracks he just made,” reported Mindy. “We are pretty sure that is a waste dump.” 

“The second walk is usually about 5 - 10 meters out past the solar array. Each day we would only see just 1 or 2 photos of this walk, so I had to string together several days worth of Sat photos to get a to get a better look at what Mark was doing.”

“When I showed these photos to Ginger Dalton today she immediately recognized Marks movements as those used in collecting soil samples.” 

 

It was quiet in the room for a moment then...

“Mindy!” Venkat stood up and almost shouted, ”you mean to tell me Mark is collecting soil samples every day on this trip to Schiaparelli ? ” 

Venkat plopped in his chair for a moment then excitedly jumped right up again and turned to speak to Teddy, “THIS is how we sell the high rescue costs to all the budget conscious congressional critics! The amount of data and science he is collecting on this journey would take 10 or 12 missions to acquire, it is priceless!”

 

Annie said, “We should call the Vice President Jordan with this information right away!” 

 

Bruce Ng spoke up “I don’t want to throw a monkey wrench into all of this but I doubt we’ll be able to tolerate the weight of the samples in the MAV.”

 

“Thats all right, “ Kapoor said impatiently, “Ares V can pick them up - what a bonus!” 

“Mindy” said Venkat as he turned to her, “once again you have contributed far beyond what we could have hoped. Your continuing inclusion of the astronauts into your analysis has given us a real offset for the cost of the rescue and the continuation of manned Mars missions!”

While Mindy quietly said thank you, almost blushing at the praise, Annie was almost smirking as she squeezed Mindy’s knee under the table.

As the meeting was breaking up Teddy rather reluctantly said “Mitch, you were obviously right months ago about the value of including the Ares One and Two crew members into these discussions.” Henderson didn’t smile, frown or reply in any manner what-so-ever, so Teddy continued, ”Would you please officially ask them to join the team working on the rescue?”

Commander Stinson replied to Teddy’s request almost immediately saying that they would do anything that was asked of them to help with Watney’s rescue. Their one condition was that they wanted to continue to liaise through Mindy Park. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sanders addressed the meeting, “explain again to me why every morning Watney drives in a slightly different direction than the previous day, even the Media has noticed this.” 

Mindy had already consulted with the astronauts and was ready with a reply. 

“Director, have you ever walked through a woods and tried to go in a straight line?” asked Mindy. “Nearly impossible, right? Dodging around trees, or maybe large boulders or streams and trying to pick up the same course on which you began requires a lot of estimation and plain guesswork.”

“The astronauts say the same is true of Watney on Mars. But instead of dodging around trees he is circling rock outcroppings and some very large craters, all while trying to keep on the most direct heading possible to Schiaparelli.” 

 

Henderson spoke up, “When the coms were working we didn’t send Mark better navigational directions, which would have suggested the best path through the craters and outcroppings, so he is stuck using the much less detailed Mars maps that were really only sent on the mission for general reference.” 

He continued, “3200 kilometers is about the distance from Chicago to Los Angeles. Imagine trying to make that drive efficiently without a road map.”

Mindy spoke, ”Dox Paulin is pretty sure Watney has made some sort of rudimentary sextant for navigational purposes, that would have been standard procedure. This means at the end of each day, when the stars are visible he makes his calculations for the next day’s heading. Consequently, we see him begin each day heading on a slightly different course than the day before, to us, however, it looks like a Zig-Zag pattern.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Director Sanders,” Mindy began her report “to a person, the Ares astronauts are sure Mark will figure out about the dust storm sooner that most everyone else here does.” replied Mindy. “And how quickly he figures it out can make all the difference to his survival.”

“The team is positive he’s monitoring his power closely, it is his lifeblood, power is everything to him and he will notice immediately if it is diminishing. As Maddox Paulin had told me earlier, he is pretty sure Mark is navigating by sextant and landmarks, so he will almost certainly notice when the atmosphere is becoming hazy.” 

 

“Of course what he’ll do about navigating the Dust Storm is another matter.”


	11. This is it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You will recognize a couple of phrases direct from Andy Weir, so credit to him.

Sol 475

“Mr Kapoor” Mindy said on the phone, “The Ares astronauts were right, it didn’t take him very long, only 4 days into the edge of the dust storm and Mark has sent a message. 

DUST STORM MAKING PLAN

 

~~~~~~~~~~  
Sol 478

Mindy began the meeting, “Mr Kapoor, even though it is hard to get a totally clear picture of the surface right now, it appears that Mark is dropping off individual solar panels as he drives. The astronaut team thinks he might be trying to monitor how long it takes to charge each panel. That will allow him to figure if charge rates are faster or slower in any particular direction.”

“Bruce, does this sound possible?” Teddy Sanders asked.

“Assuming he packed them for the trip,” said Bruce, “there are Power Monitors in the electrical supplies. It would take some creative work to protect them from the Martian atmosphere, and to figure out a way to track the monitors’ results, but we know Watney is creative.”

“One thing we’ve seen.” said Mitch, “is that Mark is a clever guy.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Sol 498

Dalton and Bassett were looking over Mindy’s shoulder when the first Sat photo came in. No one spoke for 20 seconds or so.

“Shit!” said Chuck Y 

“Damn!” said Ginger

“Gorram!” Mindy whispered. 

“Exactly what am I seeing?” Mindy asked.

Chuck Y replied, “Mark’s Rover is on it’s side and the towed rover, with the balloon top, is completely upside down!”

Starting to type, Mindy says, “I’ve got to let everyone know.”

 

To: Crisis Team

LEVEL TWO - ROVER ACCIDENT

From M Park 

 

“You both need to come with me to Sanders' office for the Crisis Meeting.” Mindy said. “We don’t have time to discuss it before I go in, we’ll do it the meeting.” 

As they hurried down the corridor Ginger asked Mindy, “Was that ‘Firefly’ speak ?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Sol 505

“Yes, Mr. Sanders,” said Mindy, “He made it!”

Teddy shook Venkat’s hand and then shook hands with Mitch. Mitch shook hands with Jack Stinson and Venkat. Annie hugged Mindy, then gave Mitch a hug.

From the monitor at the end of the conference table Bruce Ng spoke up, “Hello? Hello? Yeah.... this is great everybody, but you might want to rein it in a little, we have some serious work to complete before we can celebrate!”

Sanders nodded in agreement and said, you are right Bruce.” 

 

“Can you show us the most recent Sat photo, Ms Park?” When the photo flashed on the wall monitor, every one stared with quizzical looks on their faces. 

Annie spoke first, “What the fuck is Mark doing?”

Mindy replied, “He’s hugging the MAV!”

There were big smiles, laughs and head shakes all around the room, including Bruce.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

LAUNCH EVE

 

Mindy and Annie wanted to have an early dinner but neither had an appetite.

Chuck Y stopped by to tell them to relax, think positive and to try and get some sleep. He couldn’t stay long because he had to fly a NASA Jet to Washington later that evening. 

 

In private, Chuck Y has already confessed to Mindy his main concern is the makeshift tarpaulin on the front of the MAV. What he finds most bothersome is that neither he, nor anyone else, can think of a better alternative.

Mindy, of course, didn’t mention this to Annie.

 

After they all shared a drink together, Annie had a Scotch, Mindy a glass of white wine, and Chuck Y had a club soda, Chuck Y said, “Excuse me ladies, I have to be going, I need to file a flight plan and head to Washington.”

 

He stooped over to kiss Mindy’s cheek and said, “This is what everyone has been working toward the last year and a half.”

“Tomorrow” said Mindy. 

“Tomorrow” said Chuck Y.

“I’m so fuckin’ scared” Annie said.

 

Needless to say Annie couldn’t sleep. Not that it would have mattered anyway, she was up most of the night online with her staff, organizing how the overflow of media representatives would be handled tomorrow. Finally, there was just one more thing to check before trying to get to sleep.

“Heather, do you have the portable Holographic Projection Display up and running for Major Bassett?”

“ Yes Annie, I have triple checked it and all preloaded displays are operable. And can I say how flippin’ cool it is for a gal from Little Rock to be in the White House !” 

Annie chuckled and said, “OK, Heather, calm down a little or your won’t get any sleep at all tonight.”

“Who cares, Annie, I am in the White House and tomorrow I’ll be in the same room as the President and…. Holy Punkin' Pie! Have you ever SEEN Major Bassett in person? I do declare Ms. Montrose, I may develop the vapors!”

 

“Goodnight Heather,” she chuckled, happy for a little relief from the tension of tomorrow.

 

Mindy had fallen asleep about 2 a.m. on the sofa, When she finally finished at 3:30 a.m., Annie squeezed onto the sofa next to Mindy and they slept with arms draped around one another until Annie’s Computer alarm woke them at 5:30 a.m..

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

SOL 549 

NASA is in full on Launch and Rescue mode.

Jack Stinson and Commander Lewis’s husband, Robert, are in Chicago with the Watneys. Annie also has people waiting outside on the Watney's lawn to handle the media no matter the outcome.

 

C Y Bassett is in the White House to monitor the launch and rescue and to answer questions for the President and Vice President and other dignitaries.

 

To brief media as the launch and rescue unfold, Maddox Paulin and Malik Baptist are in the JSC Media Center along with Assistant Media Director Gerald Bremmer.

 

Feeds have also been established in the 2 smaller alternate media rooms down the hall and there are three “Jumbo Tron” type screens outside on the JSC grounds, where hundreds of additional media representatives are waiting and watching. Annie Montrose has staff spread around, both inside and out. 

 

The NASA voice feed and visual of Mission Control is being broadcast and streamed around the world. 

 

Mindy is at her SATCON Station along with Ginger Dalton.   “ Look Ginger, the SATCON staff left a scale model of the SERENITY on my desk, ‘For good luck,’ the card says. I wonder how they knew I was into Firefly?” Mindy asks.

Ginger covered her mouth and coughed so Mindy wouldn’t see her smile. Then she turned her head and caught Aidan Vicker’s eye and winked.

 

Mitch Henderson, with headset on, is standing in the middle of Mission Control while Teddy Sanders, Venkat Kapoor and Annie Montrose are standing in the back of the room. 

Family members of the Ares III crew Martinez, Beck, and Johanssen are in the Visitors Gallery, as well as, the two oldest Vogel children who flew in from Germany yesterday with their mother.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

MISSON CONTROL: “We are T minus four minutes, 10 seconds to launch...” the voice of Commander Lewis echoed throughout Mission Control, the Media Center and around the world. 

There is very little talking except quiet telemetry exchanges between launch engineers and the sounds of keyboards clicking. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

WHITE HOUSE: The President asks Bassett, “Potential problems at this stage?” 

Chuck Y replies, “Well, Mark will be launched at a greater velocity than any human has previously endured, his body is weakened by many months of a low calorie diet and he is suffering bone loss from 700 days in low gravity, first on Hermes and then on Mars. So it will be very surprising if he doesn’t break some ribs upon launch.”

“In addition, the Mars Ascent Vehicle, or MAV, is ‘aerodynamically challenged’ with no front panel and only Hab canvas in its place, which may or may not affect it’s flight capabilities.”

“So, yes Mr President, Mark has some serious challenges ahead!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

CHICAGO: “If it helps, Mrs. Watney,” said Jack Stinson, “Mark has already launched and is on his way to the Hermes. It just takes a while for us to hear about it.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

JSC MEDIA CENTER: Maddox Paulin responds to a question, “ No, this is not really happening now, this happened 12 minutes ago. It takes that long for any Hermes communication to travel to Earth and it will take another 12 minutes for any response from Earth to reach the Hermes.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

MISSION CONTROL: Finally the sound of Lewis’s voice is heard, “about 5 seconds, Watney, Hang on”

Then everyone heard Watney’s reply, “see you in a few Commander.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

SATCON: “Ginger,” said Mindy, “I can’t believe it comes down to this.” 

Ginger replied, “All of your hard work is about to payoff,” 

Mindy confessed, “I know, but I am so scared, Chuck Y told me his concerns and I can’t stop thinking about them.” 

“Look Mindy, you have trusted me and all the Ares I and II crews to help you so far, now you need to trust Commander Lewis and her crew. I know they’ll come through” 

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

WHITE HOUSE: “Major Bassett, what is the significance of 68 kilometers?” asked the President. 

“Mr President,” Chuck Y replied, “The launch was only partially successful, Watney is in Mars orbit but the orbit is not high enough for the Hermes to reach him.”

“Heather, please display the planned orbits of the MAV and Hermes in the hologram. Good, now in scale, please separate them 68 kilometers”

“The combined tether for the rescue Space Walk is only about 200 meters in length, far too short to reach the MAV more than 40 miles away.” 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

CHICAGO: Jack Stinson spoke, “68 kilometers is too great a distance for them to affect a rescue, so they are using their maneuvering thrusters to get closer to Mark,” Mr Watney. "Unfortunately, while they will now be close enough to Mark, they will be going too fast to grab him.”

“Oh no!" sobbed Mrs. Watney. 

Robert Lewis leaned down next to Mrs. Watney and spoke quietly, but confidently, “There is NO WAY Melissa is going to leave Mark behind, please believe me.” 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

JSC MEDIA CENTER Maddox Paulin speaking to the assembled media, and broadcast and streamed to the world when he announced , “42 meters per second, or about 90 miles an hour, is far too fast for the Hermes crew to rescue Watney from the MAV.”

Malik Baptist joined in, “Commander Lewis and the crew are going over whatever options they can think of to reduce the velocity of the HERMES.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

SAT CON: “Is there anything they can do, Ginger?”

“I don’t know, Mindy, but they won’ t give up!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

CHICAGO: Jack Stinson spoke, “Mrs. Watney, a broken rib is painful but not life threatening.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

MISSION CONTROL: Commander Lewis: “Houston, be advised, we are going to deliberately breach the VAL to produce thrust” 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

WHITE HOUSE: “Major?” the President asked.

“Sir, excuse me if I take a minute to process this.” replied Chuck Y.

“it seems Commander Lewis has come up with a radical method, a brilliant method.....perhaps the ONLY method, to reduce Hermes’s velocity enough to make the rescue.”

“She is going to breach the Vehicular Air Lock, located at the front of the Hermes, and allow the pressurized atmosphere of the Hermes to escape. “

“Heather, please display the front of the Hermes”

“A breach here” said Chuck Y, putting his hand inside the hologram of the Hermes, “ will produce thrust OPPOSITE to the direction they are currently traveling. That will slow down the Hermes, hopefully enough to match the velocity of the MAV.”

“For the safety of the crew and the ship, I am assuming the bridge and other key areas of Hermes will be sealed off keeping air pressure constant in important sections of the station.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

JSC MEDIA CENTER: Malik Baptist explained, “If you untie a ballon, you have all seen the how the escaping air causes the balloon to fly AWAY from you.”

Stinson continued, “In essence, Commander Lewis is allowing pressurized air to escape the front of the Hermes. And while the Hermes is too big and traveling at too great a velocity for it to shoot off in the opposite direction like a balloon, the escaping air should still slow it down.” 

Gerald put up the holographic display of the Hermes and projected a cross section allowing Malik to indicate where the VAL is located and how the Inner and Outer Hatch doors will be used during the breach.

 

Annie Montrose came into the room, stepped onto the stage and spoke, “If there is one thing we have seen over these last several months, it is how, in a life and death situation, Mark Watney has been extremely smart and creative.”

“It now appears that Commander Lewis and the rest of the Ares III crew are just as smart and creative. If there is one chance in a million of rescuing Mark Watney, the Ares III crew will make hit work!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

CHICAGO: What it means, Mr Watney, is that Robert was right, there is no way Commander Lewis is going to leave Mark behind!

~~~~~~~~~~

 

MISSION CONTROL: The voice of Commander Lewis comes across the coms, “Houston, this is Hermes Actual. Six crew safely aboard.


	12. Spilled Beans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short one..

At the conclusion of the ‘Watney Rescue,’ those in attendance in the White House Situation Room, including key Cabinet and Congressional members began filing out. 

Only the President and Vice President remained, along with Chuck Y and Heather, when the President offhandedly said’ “Major Bassett, I’ll bet this is a tremendous relief to everyone working on the rescue.” 

Chuck Y replied, “Yes, Mr President, almost everyone everyone at JSC has been on call 24/7 since Watney was first discovered to be alive on Sol 49.” 

 

The President asked, “Was it that way for you too, Miss...?” 

Heather replied, “Elwood, Heather Elwood, Mr President. No, it wasn’t nearly as bad for me, I only came on board less than a year ago. But Major Bassett and Ares I and Ares II astronauts have been working diligently with Mindy, almost since she first discovered Mark was alive.” 

Chuck Y looked sideways at Heather and she responded at once, “Opps, sorry Major Bassett. Mr President, I wasn’t supposed to mention Mindy, sorry. But I bet you are good at keeping secrets, huh?” After a moment she continued, “Yeeeah....Maybe I’ll just shut up now.”

 

Chuck Y turned to the President, “It really isn’t a secret, sir, we have just been keeping Mindy Park’s name out of the spotlight. Since she was such a key person to the rescue planning, and was operating in such a stressful situation, it was agreed to try and keep her out of the public eye and all the scrutiny that comes with it.” 

“The press, as I’m sure you know, Mr President, can be relentless in the search for a story.”

“I can assure you, now that Mark has been rescued, Mindy will begin to get the public credit she so richly deserves for her work”

 

“Just what were her responsibilities and why were they so stressful?” Asked the President.

“May I answer that, Major?” asked Vice President Jordan. 

“Annie Montrose has shared a great deal about Mindy Park with me, Mr President”, she said, then gave a sideways glance and small smile to Chuck Y....who in turn smiled back and lifted his eyes to looked to the ceiling. 

 

VP Jordan went on the explain that Mindy Park works at the Johnson Space Center and offered details regarding her conclusion that Mark Watney was alive. She then explained how Mindy had been tasked with monitoring Watney and her inclusion of the Ares astronauts to assist with her analysis. 

“Making this all the more difficult,” the VP said, “was the difference in Earth time vs Martian time, isn’t that right Major?”

 

“Yes, Madam Vice President,” he replied. Chuck Y went on to explain that the satellite photos were taken during Martian daylight and that during parts of the year Martian daylight can last up to 14 hours, making for some very long shifts for Mindy. He then explained that each day was 40 minutes longer on Mars than Earth and how that resulted in an ever creeping schedule Mindy had to maintain, and how she had given up her apartment to live closer to JSC just to handle the schedule better.

 

“Amara,” said the President, “let’s make sure Mindy Park is included in everything we do honoring the rescue effort.” The Vice President nodded. 

“Also” he continued, “I assume, Major, there will be the need for time to decompress, now that the rescue has been completed. You should talk to DuBose Tate, my Chief of Staff, ask him for the Martha’s Vineyard contact we use when vacationing there. And drop my name, I'm sure they can find a quiet getaway, for you and Miss Park before before the press learns too much.”

Chuck Y looked blank, and the President said, “I learned to read Amara several years ago, Major, I can usually tell what she is thinking, and I have seen her sideways glances before.”

Smiling, Chuck Y replied, “Thank you very much Mr President, I think we will take you up on that.” 

 

The President continued, “and you Miss Elwood, seem very bright and capable, but if I were you I would keep this all to myself.”

“Yes,” Heather said while grinning, “thank you Mr President” then she saluted.


	13. Credit Where Credit Is Due

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I learned that the term CONSENSUS refers to a majority, perhaps two thirds or more in agreement. But I have run across those of strong opinion who equate consensus with unanimity.
> 
> In this chapter, I am using consensus in the way I believe to be correct.

Three days after Watney was pulled on board the Hermes, Sanders called a meeting with Kapoor, Henderson, Montrose and Ng, who was in the JSC at the time. 

Teddy began. “There is a problem.” 

“When I was appointed Director I expected be held responsible for the decisions I made and to take the heat when those decisions didn’t work out. I will not, however, accept the recognition and acclaim for something I don’t deserve.”

“Along with NASA in general, I am being praised for the bold action in using the risky Purnell Maneuver to rescue Mark Watney. Colleagues in the Space community, the President, other world leaders are heaping kudos on me for this tough decision.”

“Well, the five of us know that I did NOT give approval for the maneuver. It was Commander Lewis, and from what I understand, the rest of the Ares III crew who made that decision.”

 

“Of course if I explain what really happened, that someone went rogue - Mitch, don’t try to deny it - and acted against my decision to inform the crew of the maneuver, it would become known that Commander Lewis and the crew knowingly made their decision to act, against my wishes.”

“That would taint their heroic actions and the careers of Commander Lewis and her crew, people I respect as true heroes and the very best of us. That is most certainly NOT going to happen!”

 

“So you are all going help me find a way to make it clear this was NOT my decision, without taking down you, Mitch,” then looking at Annie, “and you Fräulein Montrose, and without tainting the careers of the Ares III astronauts with insubordination and barratry.”

 

Everyone sat there for a minute when Annie finally spoke up, “This is why you have me handling the Media Relations for you, Herr Sanders.”

“If you really want to be noble and deny responsibility for the decision to inform Commander Lewis of the Purnell option, and still preserve everyone’s reputation, we can always say the five of us debated what to do and the consensus was for informing Lewis .”

“That is more or less, what happened. Mitch and I made it known we were most definitely FOR informing Commander Lewis. Kapoor and Ng never voiced their opinions and you were the sole no vote. My grade school math reflects that two thirds of the votes cast were FOR for telling Lewis of the maneuver.” 

Annie announced, “So there, problem solved!” 

 

Then, speaking as if thinking out loud, she said, “But I am not sure we should say anything at all.”

“Why is that?” asked Teddy.

“Even though I don’t really like you all that much,” Annie said, then paused and gave Teddy ‘the finger’ before continuing “I think you are being too hard on yourself!” 

 

“While some of us disagreed with THIS decision, you made several other ‘risky’ or ‘bold’ decisions that were key in trying to rescue Mark.” 

“For example,” she continued, “your decision on Sol 49 to allow Vincent to photograph the Ares III Habitat site because it might be key to potential future missions. There was a substantial risk Watney’s body would be front and center for the world to see and could cause PR and funding problems, yet you agreed that information on the condition of the Hab was more important, so you approved it.”

Bruce took a turn and said, “You overrode procedures to try to get the Iris probe to Mars on schedule and then took ALL of the responsibility for the testing shortcuts when the Iris ultimately failed.”

 

Then Venkat said, “When the CNSA called with the chance to use their booster, you immediately acceded to using a Chinese astronaut in a future mission knowing full well the European Space Agency would be upset over losing a seat and a fickle congress might threaten funding for more missions. And this was for an extremely slim chance of getting food to Watney in time.” 

 

“If you want to give Commander Lewis and her crew the recognition they deserve for risking their lives on the Purnell maneuver,” said Annie, “then fine, that’s very commendable. But don’t do it because you think you don’t deserve any of the credit for the other tough and sometimes unpopular decisions you made in an effort to rescue of Watney.” 

 

“Well, thank you Annie, but lets see if in this case we can just give the credit where it belongs, with the Ares III crew.” 

Then Teddy added, “Plus, it has always been obvious that I like you Annie, more than you like me, otherwise I would have fired your sorry ass a long time ago!.”

 

“Hey, that’s unfair,” Annie said sweetly, “I don’t have a sorry ass!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Later that afternoon, Annie Montrose drew up a press release stating that the decision to use the Purnell Maneuver was difficult, but that ultimately Director Sanders did not want to risk the lives of the 5 astronauts on the Hermes. The consensus of the committee working on the rescue, however, was to inform the Ares III crew of the Purnell Maneuver and that they would be allowed to make their own decision about whether to take the risk.

Obviously, the heroic decision to make the Purnell Maneuver by Commander Lewis and Ares III crew led to the most amazing rescue in NASA history.

These are the heroes, along with Mark Watney himself, who deserve the honors and praise for the success of this mission.


	14. First Date

Two days after the rescue Mindy headed to New York to spend 8 days with her parents. It was first time she had seen them in more than two years. 

Her first day back in Houston she called Chuck Y and said, “about that dinner? ” 

“I’m patient, but c’mon, how many months has it been? ” Chuck Y asked. “I’m not sure the invitation hasn’t expired”

“Playin’ hard to get?” she asked, “I promise I’ll make it up to you” 

A short pause, then a reply, “ I’ll pick you up at 7.” 

That evening, as Mindy left, she turned to Annie and said, “I may be home a little late.”

“With that dress? Yeah, suuuure,” Annie replied, “I won’t wait up.” 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

A few minutes before 8 p.m. they were sitting at the bar of one of Chuck Y’s favorite restaurants waiting to be seated.

25 minutes later he kicked his front door closed and they were both doing that odd dance that comes from trying to take off pants without falling over, or while hopping on one leg trying to take off a high heeled shoe. 

An unspoken decision was made that the sofa was much closer than the bedroom, so they headed that direction. It wasn’t an easy journey across the room, especially when entangled in half removed clothing and trying to maintain a kiss. After a frenzied minute, they fell together onto the sofa. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

At 11:30 they were both sitting on the floor of the kitchen, she wearing his dress shirt from dinner and he was wearing an Ares II t-shirt. 

Because they had run out on the dinner reservations, both were starving, though Mindy refused to use that term considering what Watney had just been through. Regardless, there was very little in the cupboard to eat. 

 

They made do. A bowl of angel hair pasta covered with a little butter and sprinkled with crushed red pepper was shared and, in honor of Mark, they ‘nuked’ their only potato in the microwave.

“You don’t think less of me now do you?” asked Mindy

Chuck Y replied, “Why would I think less of you?” 

“Well, I have never really done anything like this on a first date.” she said.

“I guess technically this is a first date,” he said, “but we have been together for months now and the only reason we haven’t had a chance to do this before is that damn Watney was wandering around Mars.!” 

“Hey!” she said, “That’s MY Watney you’re talking about! But come to think about it, I’ve never done anything like this on ANY date.”

He snapped his head around “No. Don’t tell me you were a VIRGIN?!”

“No,” she replied coyly, “not a virgin. I have just done nothing like this”, she said while waving her arm in the general direction of the living room.”

“Or that,” she said, while gesturing to the dining table.”

Then more quietly “or that,” while indicating the kitchen counter. “

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

She was shamelessly double dipping a banana in jar of Nutella and he was just licking it off his fingers. Then he put a small dollop of Nutella on the end of her nose, and gently licked it off. Then a dollop on the back of her hand and not so gently licked it off, and then... well, that was how the meal ended and the after-dinner entertainment began. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Around 2:30 in the morning, in the total darkness, Mindy poked Chuck Y and said, 

... “I can’t sleep” 

.......... While yawning he said, “Aren’t you tired?” 

... “I want a bedtime story.”

.......... “What?”

... “A bedtime story.”

.......... “Why?”

... “I was promised one along with dinner.”

.......... “Why would I promise you something like that?”

... “I Quote, 'Tell you what Mindy, come to dinner with me and I might be convinced to tell you the story‘ unquote. Surely I’ve done a pretty good job of ‘convincing you’ to tell me the Chuck Y story.” 

............ “ I have to admit you WERE very convincing! Okay, but you’ll have to do some research first.”

... “Hey, what are you tryin’ to pull? I was promised a story not a research assignment!” 

.......... “I swear, just research one little piece of information and I will tell you the whole story.”

... “What a gyp! I wish Annie was here to curse at you right now.” 

.......... “Really?

... With a big sigh, “Ok, what do I need to research?”

.......... “In 1955, my grandfather, his name isn’t important to your research, was very young hotshot Sabre Jet Fighter-Bomber pilot assigned to Hahn Airbase in Germany and the following year he transferred to Toul-Rosieres Air Base in France.”

...“Ok, where is my device, wait, I think my bag is by the front door?”

.......... “Not now, later.”

... “You’re no fun! Hey, what are you doing? Ok, I take it back, you ARE fun!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

As he drove her back to Annie’s early the next morning, she said, “does anyone know about ‘us,’ or do you think we can sort of keep it quiet for a while?

“Well,” he said, “It may be a little late for that. I am pretty sure it was obvious to the I and II crews that we were becoming very close, they are all very perceptive, especially Ginger.”

Mindy thought and said, “Hmmm, you are probably right, especially after some of the things Ginger said to me in passing.”

“Then there was the committee, Sanders, Kapoor, Henderson, all probably know.” Chuck Y said, “maybe not Bruce, he wasn’t really in the room physically too often.”

“Yeah, Venkat was always around,” said Mindy, “he probably knows. But you think Director Sanders knows?”

“Hell yes,” Chuck Y said, “he has the whole place wired, he knows everything!”

“You mean BUGGED?” Mindy asked.

“No! He just knows everything that happens at JSC, it’s kind of weird. Plus your roommate definitely knows and she will probably be waiting with dozens of questions when you get home.”

 

Quietly, Chuck Y continued, “Then, of course, there is the President and Vice President”

“Wait, WHAT?” Mindy exclaimed. “The President knows about us? My parents don’t even know!”

“Yes. He has even offered to let us use his connections to spend time on Martha’s Vineyard together.”

Flabbergasted, Mindy said, “You have discussed me with the President?”

“No, HE brought it up after Watney’s rescue.”

Mindy sat in the passenger’s seat with her mouth open and Chuck Y continued, “Look ,he said something about everyone needing time to decompress after Watney was rescued, he told me to connect with his Chief of Staff, DuBose Tate. He said Tate could hook me up with someone on Martha’s Vineyard who handles the President’s vacation’s to find...let’s see, how did he put it? I think he said, “a quiet getaway for you and Miss Park.” 

“The President knows who I am? Knows that you and I are a couple? Is helping us to arrange a Martha’s Vineyard ‘getaway’ ? Mindy asked. “You have to be friggin’ kidding me!”

Pleadingly, Mindy said “C’mon babe, please, I don’t understand, you’ve got to explain all this to me.” 

“Did you just call me ‘babe’ ?” Chuck Y asked.

“Let’s FOCUS on what is IMPORTANT here!” Mindy said, then enunciating each word slowly and exactly, “Tell...Me...About...The...PRESIDENT!” 

~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to Annie’s apartment, Chuck Y went upstairs and told the full story about the President to Mindy and Annie. 

“Yup, that’s the way I heard it” Annie said.

“Wait, you knew about this too?” Mindy asked. “And you didn’t tell me?”

Annie said “Calm down. First of all, I heard it from the Vice President, so it was confidential”

Mindy replied, “Yeah, but you told the Vice President about Chuck Y and me, why wasn’t that confidential?”

 

Annie started laughing. In the back of her mind, Mindy thought it was good to hear her laughing with the weight of Mark’s rescue eased. 

Still laughing, Annie said, “Mindy, you have been working so hard, you didn’t really have a chance to live your life, so everyone planned a little of your life for you, to help you hit the ground running, so to speak”

Mindy looked at Annie and stuck out her tongue.

 

“By the way, how did dinner go last night?” asked Annie.

Chuck Y said, “Annie, let me give you all the details about this one here.”

Mindy hit him with a throw pillow, then said “It’s a good thing I’ve already fallen for you, Chuck Y, or we would have a serious problem.”

He replied, “Wait, I thought you were calling me ‘babe’ ?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

When Chuck Y left, Mindy opened her computer to begin her ‘research project,’ but there was a message waiting telling her she was to report to work on the first shift, not the second. She hurried to get ready and headed to Johnson with Annie.


	15. Moving on

When they arrived at JSC, Mindy headed for SATCON and her first day shift while Annie went to her office to work on the project she started last week. 

~~~~~~~~~~

In the week Mindy had been gone, Watney’s rescue was still a scorching hot topic and the public wanted more and more details. 

Teddy Sanders, Venkat Kapoor and Mitch Henderson spent several hours a day that week being interviewed by various media outlets - Print, Broadcast, and Web. 

All agreed with Annie to use Mindy Park’s name as little as possible. Not because she didn’t deserve a great deal of credit, for she most certainly did, but because Mindy’s position in Satcon was never expected to be integral to the greatest rescue in the history of space exploration. She had no experience dealing with the publicity attendant to this sort of thing and and no one wanted to throw her to the ‘media wolves,’ at least not yet.

Everyone agreed with Annie that the forthcoming documentary, for which Annie was still organizing details, would be a much better way to ease Mindy Park’s name into general public awareness.

Of course far too many people at JSC knew Mindy’s name to think that the media wouldn’t have heard it, but whenever her name came up in the interviews, the answer was always that she was one of the Satcon staff who reviewed satellite photos of Mars. And no one elaborated any further.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

In her office, Annie reflected that it had been an easy sell to get Teddy Sanders to agree to the creation of a documentary about the rescue of Mark Watney. Public interest and involvement was, as Teddy knew, key to the funding of future missions. 

Over the last 16 months or so, since Sol 51, NASA videographers had captured an enormous amount of activity at JSC, JPL, and in Washington as well. Since Teddy had agreed to allow this material to be used in a commercially produced documentary, Annie was given the go ahead to make some important decisions today.

Every media outlet in the world wanted access to this video archive and, up until now, only a small amount of footage had been made available to anyone who wanted to use it. But the vast majority of video, hundreds and hundreds of hours worth, would be reserved for the NASA endorsed documentary. 

Annie decided to go forward with a documentary to be produced jointly by the BBC and KUHT, a PBS member station, in Houston. The plan was a 2 part documentary, 6 1/2 hours in length, which would air in August. 

For the most part Sanders was willing to permit footage of almost anything the BBC/KUHT wanted to use. There were a very few of sensitive things that needed to be censored, the project Elrond decision, for example, but save for those small alterations, every decision and person involved could be used, warts and all, including Teddy Sanders.  

~~~~~~~~~~

After having almost no contact with her any of her colleagues for 16+ months, Mindy walked in to Satcon for her first dayshift and made a point of greeting each and every co-worker and told them how happy she was to be back in Satcon and how anxious she was to get back to her regular duties. 

It turned out, however, that it wasn’t as easy for Mindy to return to her routine responsibilities as she had hoped.

Ginger Dalton had not been exaggerating when she told Mindy that a lot of people wanted to meet her.  Now that Venkat wan’t ‘protecting’ her, there was a constant flow of visitors from various departments to her SATCON station, people who wanted to meet Mindy and thank her for finding Mark and for her contribution to his rescue. These were engineers and accountants, astrophysicists and interns, and so on and so on.

By nature, Mindy was always very gracious to everyone. Some wanted pictures and others just wanted to say thanks, but soon there was a line out the door. Ultimately, so much of her time was taken with these people that she had no time to handle her normal duties. Reluctantly she asked Aidan Vickers if there were something he could do to help.  

Soon the line vanished and Aidan told Mindy that there would be an hour each morning set aside for people to visit Mindy in the break room just across the hall. Other than that she could go about her normal day. She didn’t know how he arranged this but she was grateful.

When her day shift ended, she made sure to stay around to greet her former second shift colleagues. She told them all how much she appreciated their support while she was working on the rescue project and during their break time she began catching up with talk of their love lives, spouses, children, etc. 

She also thanked everyone for the yummy treats they left for her every few weeks and the model of ‘Serenity’ they left her for good luck on Rescue Day! “It worked!” Mindy told them

~~~~~~~~~~

Chuck Y had astronaut duties to take care of that evening, so Mindy and Annie went to dinner together.

“Mindy, I have two things I need to talk to you about.”

As Mindy sipped her white wine she replied, “Wow, that sounds ominous.”

“Not ominous, just important.”

Setting the menu aside Mindy said, “OK, shoot”

Annie began matter of factly, “Teddy has approved the documentary about Watney’s rescue and you will need to be interviewed for it.”

Mindy sat quiet for a moment then said, “Why?” 

“I didn’t make any important decisions,” she continued, “I didn’t come up with the Purnell maneuver, I didn’t grow crops or create water out of rocket fuel. Watney and the Ares III crew did all the work, all I did was watch from tens of million of kilometers away!”

“Mindy, you aren’t being asked,” Annie explained, “ you are being told what is going to happen.”

Mindy huffed and then went quiet. 

They didn’t speak again until the main course was finished.

“What else?” asked Mindy

“What?” said Annie.

“You said two things, what else are you going to tell me I have to do?”

Quietly Annie said, “Look, all you have to do is be interviewed. They will ask questions and you’ll answer them. Very simple.” 

Mindy just sat staring at her wine glass. 

“Just be yourself. Everyone loves you Mindy, you are down to earth and sincere and it was obvious to everyone how seriously you took your responsibilities watching over Mark. And how GOOD you were at it.”

“Now YOU obviously don’t see how important that was but everyone else does, including Sanders, Kapoor and Henderson.”

Mindy took a deep breath, then, “Okay, okay.”

“Now what was the second thing?” 

“Tell me about the DATE last night that lasted until 6 this morning!” Annie said while grinning. “Details girl, I want details!”

~~~~~~~~~~

After dinner, Annie told Mindy they had to make a slight detour. 

They stopped by one of the luxury suites maintained for visiting dignitaries to the JSC. When the door opened, Annie introduced Mindy to Mark Watney’s parents. There were hugs and tears all around, even from Annie. 

Then Mr Watney finally spoke, “Mitch Henderson and Jack Stinson, have told us all about you Mindy. And when she came to see us in Chicago, so did the Vice President! We are so grateful for the work you did finding Mark on Mars and watching over him. We can’t even think about what would have happened had you not found him!” 

For once, Mindy didn’t protest. She couldn’t, they were so happy.

An hour later, when they left, Mindy felt a warmth she had never before experienced. 

“Annie, of course I’ll do the interview, ” Mindy said later, “and I’ll do it the best I can.”

“I know that Mindy, you always do.”


	16. Chapter Deleted!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry to do this but..... I really didn't like this chapter. Not at all!
> 
> I had second, third and fourth thoughts about it and decided to pull it. 
> 
> It was entirely exposition and didn't advance the story. 
> 
> I promise to post something new soon.

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read"

\-- Groucho Marx --


	17. Making a Documentary

The first step in creating the documentary of the Mark Watney Rescue required a team of 11 researchers three full weeks to review the hundreds of hours of video NASA had made. 

The researchers repeatedly came across video of Rescue Committee meetings centered around Mindy Park and the information she provided. It seemed obvious early on that her role must have been important because NASA set up a static camera to cover her at her work station for their archives. Director Kapoor frequently visited in her workspace and she was in constant contact with members of the Ares I and II crews. It didn’t take long to see that she was responsible for monitoring Watney on Mars and keeping the Rescue Committee up to date on his activities and movements.

 

At the same time, preliminary interviews of key personnel were taking place to decide just who would be central figures for spotlighting in the documentary. It was pretty much a given that Sanders, Kapoor, and Ng and to a lesser extent Henderson and the Vice President. Would get most of the documentary focus. 

During those preliminary interviews Mindy Park’s name came up repeatedly and it soon became obvious that she was an important player. The documentary producers began to reshape their thoughts and decided Mindy Park would be an important interview for the success of the project.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

DOCUMENTARY: THE RESCUE OF THE MARK WATNEY

 

\------ Mindy Park’s Interview ------

 

After establishing Mindy’s background and normal duties in Satcon, the interviewer began.

 

BBC: So take us through the evening of Sol 49

Park: I was up to the third or fourth set of images I had handled that shift when I came across a set of images requested by Dr Kapoor.

BBC: The Director of Mars Operations?

Park: Yes. They were a set of 17 Satellite images and as I entered the Latitude and Longitude to label the images for him and I recognized the location as Acidalia Planitia.

BBC: Where the Ares III site was located?

Park: Yes. At the beginning of my shift I had heard that they were going to be imaging the area. I was curious, so I opened the first image and began scanning the site. I don’t know what I expected to see but I was relieved to NOT see Astronaut Watney’s remains. But there did seem to be some anomalies so I called Dr Kapoor and he came in to JSC.

BBC: Mindy, we’ve already interviewed Dr Kapoor and you are being a little too modest about your role. You have skipped some of the important details of that night. 

 

(Mindy looked past the producer to Annie Montrose who shrugged her shoulders and mouthed “I told you so”)

 

***** The image Mindy first saw is displayed on a split screen and remains for the next couple of questions. As Mindy continues, certain areas of the image will be highlighted *****

 

BBC: What were the anomalies you saw ?

Park: (Mindy took a deep breath, then...) Initially, I saw 2 Pop Tents next to the Habitat.

BBC: What are Pop Tents?

Park: Emergency shelters. They can be deployed by just tossing them out of a Rover and they auto-inflate and serve as a temporary shelter for an Astronaut. 

BBC: What did you find significant about seeing the Pop Tents?

Park: I couldn’t think of any reason they would have been used? I also couldn’t think of any reason they would be side by side next to the Habitat, several meters from the Rovers. So I throughly reviewed all 6 days of the mission logs and there was no mention of Pop Tent deployment. I reviewed the logs three times to be sure. 

BBC: Was that all you saw?

Park: No, I saw that the Solar Panels were clean.

BBC: The Solar Panels provide power the the Habitat, correct? 

Park: Yes. I checked Solar Panel procedures in the ARES III mission manual and, because of the amount of dust that can build up, a daily chore for the astronauts was to clean the dust off of the Solar Panels that had accumulated each day. They should have been covered in 6 weeks worth of dust, but instead they were completely clean. It didn’t make sense.

BBC: So... Watney’s remains were nowhere in the compound, Solar Panels were clean, Pop Tents deployed but not logged. So what next?

Park: I was getting very nervous and thought I should tell Dr Kapoor what I had seen. I called his emergency contact number and he said it would take 30 or 40 minutes for him to get into the office, in the meantime I decided to review the remaining Satellite images. 

BBC: And?

Park: I found other things I thought were odd. The MDV, that’s the Mars Descent Vehicle that carried the crew from the Hermes down to the surface of Mars, seemed to have been damaged or partially dismantled. Then there were the landing struts of the MAV, that is the Mars Ascent Vehicle which took that astronauts back up to the Hermes, they seemed to be damaged as well. I again read through all 6 days of the logs and there was no mention of this. I wasn’t sure if there was any significance to this but I wanted to make sure Dr Kapoor had all the information he needed when he arrived. And finally, I was pretty sure I could see rover tracks around the site and after 6 weeks any such tracks should have been wiped clean by the normal dust activity on Mars. 

BBC: How did you feel at that point?

Park: Scared. Panicked. I was worried I might be wrong... but I was almost MORE worried that I might be right!

BBC: Right about what?

Park: (With a slightly shaky voice) That Mark Watney was responsible for all I had seen.... that he might be alive... that he was stranded on Mars. 

 

(As the cameras continued to record, Mindy paused, took a drink from a glass of water on the table in front of her, took a deep breath, and said she was ready to continue. It was obvious this still affected her.)

 

BBC: So what happened when Dr Kapoor arrived?

Park: He saw the Pop Tents deployed and assumed Commander Lewis and set them up during the evacuation as a precaution. I told him I searched the logs and no one had deployed the tents. He then suggested that perhaps the storm had caused them to deploy on their own. I then asked if that was so, how did they come to be along side one another, more than 20 meters from the Rovers and next to the Hab? He thought about that for a minute.

I was pretty shaky by then as I pointed out the clean Solar Cells and that I had not been able to find Mark Watney’s remains anywhere on the surface. 

It then dawned on Dr Kapoor what I was saying and he was as stunned as I was. He paused a moment, then called Director Sanders and Annie Montrose and told them they needed to come in as soon as possible. As he left Satcom for his office I mentioned the rover tracks and suggested he take a look at the images that included the MDV and MAV to see if he didn’t think something was wrong with them too. 

BBC: What happened next?

Park: Annie Montrose stopped by later and told me I was to keep quiet about the events of the evening until told otherwise and that they wanted me back at 1 pm to review more images..

BBC: Annie is a friend of yours, correct?

Park: We had been friends for a few weeks and I was very glad to see a friend at that time. 

 

BBC: So to sum up the events of sol 49, after reviewing the Satellite Images YOU were the person who put things together and came to the conclusion that Mark Watney was alive on Mars.

 

(Camera #2 caught Mindy as she looked down, closed her eyes, and nodded her head ever so slightly)

 

***** At this point of the documentary there will be inserts of Directors Sanders and Kapoor, Ares I Commander Jack Stinson, and Mark Watney’s father, all reiterating that Mindy Park’s review of those images on Sol 49 and her conclusion that Mark Watney must be alive on Mars, was the event most KEY to his eventual rescue. *****

~~~~~~~~~~

 

BBC: Tell us about Sol 51?

Park: By this time 3 satellites had been re-tasked to cover the Ares III Hab site. The initial set of photos taken very early in the Martian morning gave us the first actual look at Mark Watney. He was cleaning the solar panels. 

BBC: That is undoubtedly one of the most viewed photographs of all time. And now that Mark has been rescued, it has been made into a NASA poster.

***** The original satellite image will appear on the screen *****

Park: Well, at the time it was the confirmation of what we had suspected for a day and a half, that Mark Watney had indeed survived Sol 6. I will never forget having Director Sanders, Mitch Henderson, Dr Kapoor and Annie Montrose, all looking over my shoulder, as the image came in. Everyone felt a wave of relief but the apprehension was palpable. 

***** Footage from the SATCON camera trained on Mindy’s work station will show the moment they saw Watney on the surface for the first time. Annie Montrose is seen hugging Mindy and wiping tears from her eyes. *****

 

BBC: What was the apprehension?

Park: How could Mark Watney possibly be rescued before he ran out of food?


	18. Making a Documentary Cont’d / Unwanted Recognition

DOCUMENTARY: THE RESCUE OF THE MARK WATNEY  
   
\------ Mindy Park’s Interview - Continued------

 

BBC: Within a couple weeks of discovering Mark Watney alive you were being included in the Rescue Committee meetings, correct?

Park: Yes, but I was overwhelmed by it all, these were people who made big decisions regarding the Space program and I was a lowly ‘worker bee.’

BBC: That was hardly the case, Mindy. Directors Sanders and Kapoor thought enough of you to put you in charge of monitoring Mark Watney on Mars, didn’t they?

Park: Yes.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

BBC: We’ll be continuing to discuss your work monitoring Watney but we wanted to ask, other than the initial discovery that Mark was alive, was there one particular moment or incident that stands out to you? 

Park: Let’s see, the Dust Storm...the Rovers rolling over at the entrance to Schiaparelli was scary... Hmmm, I guess up until Mark’s launch from the surface, which was VERY intense, the one time I was most frightened was the Habitat breach. 

BBC: (Referring to notes) That was Sol 119?

Park: Yes, I think that’s right.

BBC: Take us through what you remember.

Park: My shift started pretty late in the evening though it was morning on Mars. There was no activity in the first several images I reviewed, but the Solar cells seemed to have picked up a substantial amount of dust so I expected Mark would be cleaning them soon. A few minutes later another image came in....

 

(Mindy Paused for a moment and the camera caught her staring off toward the back of the room, apparently going over the incident in her mind.)

 

BBC: What did that image reveal?

 

***** The image Mindy saw is displayed in a split screen with Mindy *****

 

Park: (She began speaking slowly but steadily increased her pace) The Ares III site was a mess. The Hab appeared to be deflated! What I assumed were papers, clothing, small pieces of equipment and such were strewn around the site. And (waving her hand out to the right) Airlock # 1 was sitting 40 or 50 meters from the Hab itself! 

BBC: That must have been scary to see.

Park: No astronaut can survive a breach of the Habitat, that is a basic scientific fact! 

BBC: Why?

Park: (Again speaking quickly) The controlled atmosphere of the Hab would escape in seconds and no human could survive the Martian atmosphere. There would be no time to put on an EVA suit, death would be nearly instantaneous. So..... I was terrified! 

 

(Viewers could easily see Mindy’s breathing rate increase and her very slight rocking back and forth.)

 

BBC: Then what?

Park: (Now excitedly, speaking with her hands) I tried to put my panic aside for a minute and I sent an emergency message to the team.

BBC: What did you say?

Park: Very little, just, “LEVEL TWO - HAB BREACH.”

BBC: That’s all? No Explanation of what you had seen?

Park: (Again, using her hands, she speaks quickly) A message labeled LEVEL TWO was meant to quickly and concisely tell the Team of a potentially fatal problem on Mars. Anyone receiving the message was required to get into the office immediately and only THEN the problem would be discussed. 

(After a slight pause and with a shake of the head) Because of the hour, no one on the team was in the office and it was going to take time for them to get there.

BBC: What did you do while waiting for them to arrive?

 

***** Again, in split screen with Mindy, a clip is playing of her that night, pacing in her Satcon station, stopping every so often to look at a new image *****

 

Park: As each new image arrived it showed the same scene. I wanted someone, needed someone, to go over these images with me so I checked the Ares Astronaut schedule. 

BBC: What was that?

Park: The Ares I & II crews had agreed to work with me to decipher what Mark's actions meant on Mars. Astronaut Baptist had created a schedule so that one of the astronauts would always be on call to offer assistance, at anytime day or night. When I checked the schedule I found Chuck Y was on call.

BBC: Who?

Park: Sorry, Major Bassett, the Pilot for Ares II. I called him and sent copies of the images. I was sure Mark had died and was feeling queasy. Soon I would have to give everyone the bad news and I just needed to verify what I was seeing.

 

(Now Mindy glances down at the table, shakes her head ever so slightly, has a very slight smile on her face and begins to speak more calmly) 

 

On the teleconference call, Major Bassett was the epitome of a 'Cool & Calm Under Stress' Astronaut. In less than a minute reviewing the images he said it was probably a decompression event, NOT a straight forward Hab breach, and he told me why. 

 

BBC: Why did that matter?

Park: Because it meant Mark could be alive! If Major Bassett was right it meant Mark was probably wearing his EVA suit and was in the Airlock when it decompressed! So in less that two minutes I went from thinking Mark Watney was probably dead to thinking there was a very good chance he had survived!

BBC: And then?

Park: When the committee arrived, that's what I told them, there was a good chance Mark survived the breach.

BBC: Thankfully, he had indeed survived.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mindy’s interview went on for another 2+ hours, covering Mark’s progress on Mars and his eventual trip to the Schiaparelli Crater. 

As the documentary unfolded, many viewers noticed a number of segments began nearly the same way, 

\-- Venkat Kapoor: “Because of what Mindy Park told us...”, 

\-- Teddy Sanders: “Miss Park reported...” 

\-- Bruce Ng: “With the information Mindy provided ...”

It was also apparent that the press briefings held by Annie Montrose and her staff, throughout the rescue, were often directly based on the information Mindy was giving the team.

 

After editing, Mindy Park’s interview ran about 18 minutes. But when her prominent role in various NASA clips were considered, Mindy was on screen more than any other individual. 

To the public, it wasn't Director Sanders, Venkat Kapoor or anyone else, it was Mindy Park who was the face of Mark Watney’s rescue.

 

By the end of Part One of the documentary, Mindy would no longer be anonymous.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mindy and Chuck Y were on Martha’s Vineyard when the documentary aired/streamed over two nights in August.

The morning after Part One aired, they were walking hand in hand on Philbin Beach, dressed in only swim wear, when they began to notice people trying to surreptitiously take photos of them. But It wasn’t long before the picture taking became more obvious. Mindy repeatedly tried, with limited success, to maneuver herself so that Chuck Y was between she and the photographers. 

A young girl ran over to Mindy and said, “My mom said you might want this!” and handed Mindy a Black Dog T-Shirt which Mindy quickly put on as a coverup over her aqua colored two piece.

“Thank you ... and thank your mother!” called Mindy as the girl ran away.

“You’re welcome Mindy!” the girl called back.

Mindy looked quizzically at Chuck Y and said, “How ....?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

After leaving the beach, Mindy wore her own coverup when they drove up to the Lighthouse to grab a quick lunch the Aquinnah Shop restaurant. Because of the great view, they sat in the back at an outside picnic table overlooking the cliffs. While trying to shoo the seagulls away from their french fries, Chuck Y again noticed there were people coming outside to take photos of them. 

A woman walked up and introduced herself as Cecilia Vander--something, a name Chuck Y couldn’t quite understand, and she asked, “You are Mindy Park, aren’t you?”

Tentatively, Mindy nodded. 

Cecelia quietly said “Well, you have been spotted and I think word is out that you are here.” 

“Why would ANYONE care where I am?” asked Mindy looking around.

“Did you not see the broadcast last night or any of the news this morning?” Cecelia whispered.

Keeping his voice down, too, Chuck Y said, “We are trying to get away from everything for a few days so, no devices, no TV, no Papers, we haven’t paid any attention to what is going on in the world.”

“Well,” Cecelia continued quietly, “MINDY is what’s going on! 

“After last night’s documentary everyone now knows how much Mindy did to save Mark Watney !”

“I didn’t save Mark, he saved himself!” Mindy said in a loud whisper. 

“Whatever,” Cecelia said, “within a couple minutes the next bus from down island is due to arrive, and unless you want to be swamped with more picture takers, I’d advise you to make a break for it.”

Standing up while looking out toward Aquinnah Circle, Cecelia said, “Oops, too late, they’ve arrived!”

Chuck Y could a VTA bus AND a tour bus disgorging seemingly endless numbers of people, all headed up the steps toward the lighthouse, the shops, and worst of all, toward the restaurant.

“Give me your car fob,” she said to Chuck Y, “I’ll have Jimmy drive the car to the bottom of the circle and I’ll take you there on via the back way, on tribal land.” 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Later, sitting on the deck of their house, they each had a beer in hand when Mindy spoke, “I couldn’t believe they were taking photos of us on the beach and I was only wearing a bikini!” Mindy let a sandal dangle off her foot and continued “I’ll never wear a bikini again!”

“OK,” Chuck Y laughed, “but it means we have to walk a little further up Philbin to get to the NUDE beach.” 

Mindy’s foot launched the dangling sandal his direction and said “You wish!”

 

A couple of hours later Chuck Y pulled out the long billed caps they used a couple days ago when they went out fishing for blues. 

“Maybe if we fit in a little,” he said, “we might be able to go unnoticed. You still want to see the sunset tonight in Menemsha, right?” 

“Yeah,” Mindy said hopefully, “can we still go?”

 

Unfortunately, just as at the beach and at lunch, they were recognized quickly and soon a large crowd of people gathered wanting Mindy’s picture and autograph. The police who were there for the usual ‘Sunset’ traffic control helped them get out before they were totally engulfed by ‘fans.’

The officer driving them commented, “We regularly have movie stars, famous singers & musicians and even Presidents on the island, but I have never seen anyone get this kind of attention.” The officer looked in the rearview mirror and told Mindy, “You may have to be careful going out in public for a little while.” 

Mindy didn’t look happy as she nodded her head in agreement.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Mindy messaged Annie’s to ask for advice:

MP -- Won’t believe what happened yesterday!

AM -- People photographed you at lunch and on the beach?

MP -- How’d u know?

AM -- Pics are everywhere! 

MP -- Not BEACH Pics!?

AM -- Your tan looked great in that aqua bikini ;-)

MP -- HELP!


	19. Annie Knows Her Stuff

\--- FINAL STOP ---

Darmstadt, Germany

“Hi everyone! Wow, I can’t believe how many people are here! I’m astronaut Ginger Dalton and I was on the very first mission to Mars! 

(Applause that lasts for sometime)

“Thank you. But you aren’t here to see me.” 

(Chuckles ripple through the crowd)

“I am happy to introduce someone who has become a very dear friend of mine, Mindy Park!”

(This was always followed by a few minutes of cheers and applause. Mindy had learned when to wait it out, and when she needed to try and begin to interrupt the crowd and begin speaking.)

 

By the end of this last evening on tour, Mindy had to admit that Annie knew what she was doing!

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

\--- THE PLAN ---

 

It all began when Mindy returned from Martha’s Vineyard and Annie said if she would get out in public, do interviews, let people see her, talk to her, take pictures... just give people a chance to show their appreciation, the hubbub and fuss would begin to die down, sooner rather than later. 

So in September, a 15 day ‘Mindy Park’ tour was organized. And while not that happy about having to endure time in the public eye, when she learned that the tour would conclude with an additional week in Europe, Mindy thought it might not be so bad after all.

Gerald Bremmer, Annie’s Assistant Media Director, worked with Mindy to come up with a short 3 or 4 minute talk and Ginger spent time showing Mindy how to avoid some usual ‘handshake’ pitfalls when meeting the public. She also suggested that Mindy be seated behind a table where she could sign autographs. With the crowd in front of the table it would prevent hugging, shoulder embraces, arm grabbing and physical contact in general, especially when taking photos and selfies.

 

\--- THE TOUR ---

 

Sometimes Mindy sat in hotel conference suite for a series of media interviews, other times, particularly in larger cities, like NYC or Chicago, she would be whisked away to broadcast studios, or headquarters of various publications, for several interviews spread out over the day. 

Annie always attended these functions to keep things on track. While she permitted a little of Mindy’s background to be discussed, interviews were to cover only Mindy’s role in monitoring Mark Watney on Mars. Annie would not allow interviews to evolve into questions about Mindy’s personal life or her ‘opinions’ about NASA, the rescue, or anything else. 

There was also a ‘Meet & Greet’ organized in every town and city on the tour. This was a chance for the public to meet Mindy in person and for these, Ginger Dalton was always at Mindy’s side to make sure things went smoothly. The events were frequently hosted by a local PBS station and usually held in a variety of venues including town halls, concert halls, student unions, etc. and the crowds at these events were always supportive and enthusiastic. Large crowds were several thousand people, a small crowd was 700 or 800. Mindy would give a short speech, greet the public, and autograph posters or pictures. 

Interestingly, the three most popular posters all used the first image taken of Mark Watney on Sol 51 -- the image of him cleaning the solar panels. 

The first poster had the NASA logo in the upper left hand corner. 

The second poster was captioned in bold letters, “Life Found on Mars!,” which reflected the headlines used by many news sites and papers after Mark was discovered alive. 

A dorm room staple, the third poster was captioned with the WWII British motivational slogan, “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON” -- appropriate, since it was exactly what Mark had done!

NASA also provided free copies of a montage photograph which included a headshot of Mindy, a shot of her standing at her work station, and a shot of her making a presentation to Sanders, Kapoor, Henderson, Ng and Montrose. These were free to the public at each event, and people always wanted them autographed. 

Inevitably, a few people brought photos of Mindy on the beach in her bikini. Mindy politely, though emphatically, refused to sign them!

Between the posters and the photos, Mindy thought she would never be able to sign her name again! And after thousands of pictures and selfies, Mindy’s cheeks were numb from smiling.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Director Sanders, and Chuck Y were added to the group when they headed to Europe for the last leg of the tour.

The first stop on Monday was London. 

Mindy was met with multiple tabloid headlines claiming she had been Mark Watney’s lover or she was the mistress of a married astronaut. Prominent on the multiple front pages were photos of Mindy in her bikini, on Martha’s Vineyard, holding hands with Chuck Y. 

At the beginning of the initial press briefing, Annie explained that Mindy had yet to even MEET Mark Watney. She then introduced Martian Astronaut and Ares II Pilot, Major C.Y. Bassett - the man in the beach photographs. Chuck Y stated he has never been married but that he and Mindy were indeed dating, thank you very much! 

Director Sanders said that with that drivel out of the way, he would like to thank the people of the United Kingdom for their well wishes and support during the rescue of Mark Watney. He then headed out to Swindon for meetings at the headquarters of the UK Space Agency and to discuss a joint UKSA & NASA satellite project. Meanwhile, Mindy held multiple press conferences in a hotel suite. The group all attended a dinner that evening hosted by Prince Harry and Princess Meghan. 

Tuesday, Chuck Y accompanied Mindy and Ginger up to Cambridge for her first overseas “Meet & Greet,” that same evening they were back in London where the BBC hosted a similar event.

 

Wednesday morning the group headed to the European Space Agency headquarters in Paris, where again, Director Sanders met with top officials while Mindy followed her usual schedule of press conferences followed by a ‘meet and greet.’ 

Thursday, was a travel day and on Friday they were at the European Space Operations Center of the ESA in Darmstadt, Germany. 

While Mindy was having her session with the public in the afternoon, Annie met privately in her hotel room with Helena Vogel. She had flown from Bremen to Darmstadt with her eldest daughter Eliza who was anxious to meet Mindy. It had already been arranged for them both to join Mindy for dinner. 

 

During dinner Helena told Mindy her son Victor desperately wanted to attend but he was goalie for his school’s football team and his father would never forgive him if he skipped his obligation to the team. When she learned this, Mindy signed a poster and dedicated it to him for her mother to deliver. She then asked Helena if she could contact her son for a video call. 

Victor was on the team bus after the match when the call went through. Mindy spoke with him for a few minutes while his teammates photo bombed his call, saying things like ‘I love you, Mindy’ or puckering their lips and making kissing sounds. Mindy laughed and apologized to Victor if her call embarrassed him. 

Victor said, “No. Not at all. My father admires you very very much, and because of that, I admire you, too! Nothing you could do would embarrass me” 

After Victor closed the connection Mindy sat there for a moment trying to take in what Victor had just said. Helena told Mindy that everyone on Hermes had become fans and admirers of her. The Ares III crew had received numerous reports describing the work she had done and had even seen certain sections of the documentary. All were very impressed with Mindy, her work and her dedication.


	20. Nearing the end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost finished

Following the tour, Mindy and Chuck Y spent three days unwinding in a private Italian Villa on a lake. No crowds, no entourage, no schedule...all alone!

Upon returning to Houston Mindy found a message in her Satcon computer from the Hermes. She checked with Aidan Vickers and asked if she had received the message in error. He assured her it was correctly addressed to her.

She opened the message:

 

############################################

### ARES III / OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS ###

TO: --- M. Park - Sat Con (JSC)  
FROM: --- M. Lewis, Commander, Ares III (Hermes)

Ms Park,

The Ares III crew and I want to express our deepest gratitude for your outstanding efforts,   
first in finding astronaut Watney alive and then for monitoring his progress until his rescue.

We have been told your observations and analysis proved instrumental to his rescue and we   
want to make sure you know how grateful we all are.

Speaking for the entire Ares III crew, thank you!

Commander, Melissa Lewis, USN 

 

### ARES III ------ END OF OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS ###

############################################

 

The message from the Hermes caught her totally by surprise so Mindy read it a second time. 

 

When they met for lunch she excitedly told Annie about receiving a message from the crew on Hermes. 

Annie said, “Yes, I know.” 

“You seem to always know a lot about my life!” Mindy chided.

“Just looking out for you,” Annie replied matter-of-factly. 

“And, in full disclosure, you should know there are some high level meetings taking place right now, all at the request of Melissa Lewis.”

“And that has something to do with me?” Mindy asked. 

“Commander Lewis wants to have your name added to the Ares III crew’s ‘Secure Personal Communications’ network.” Annie explained, “That network is strictly for the private communication with the crew’s family members and is not monitored or made available to the public.”

 

Mindy shook her head and looked puzzled, so Annie continued, “Regulations are that all phases of the NASA missions, including communications with JSC, must be available to the public.” 

Mindy interrupted, “Yeah, I know that.” 

“The only exceptions”, Annie continued, “are for private family contact through the SPC Network (Secure Personal Communications.) Everything else is considered part of the mission and must be shared with the public.” 

“Apparently Lewis is arguing any role you had in the Ares III mission is over and any contact with you now would be of a personal nature. Plus, this mission has been very long and stressful and the crew could really benefit from this kind of connection to the world outside.” 

Annie paused, smiled and said, “And she has some very high level support for her request,” she chuckled and continued, “Especially Dr. Shields. Of course Sanders, Henderson, and Kapoor have all agreed and there is also support from VPOTUS.”

Mindy looked confused. 

“The Vice President ” Annie explained.

Mindy paused to try and grasp into which alternate universe she must have stumbled where NASA Directors, Mars Astronauts and the Vice President of the United States, even know her name, let alone have meetings about her. 

Slowly shaking her head, she looked at Annie, shrugged with her palms up, and smiled with resignation that her life was on an unexpected trajectory. 

“I have absolutely no control over my life, do I?” asked Mindy. “I feel like I am... just.... along...... for the ride.” 

 

Annie continued, “Apparently Lewis has some personal message for you and she wants it kept confidential. If permission is granted - and how can it NOT be? - you can probably expect another message from Lewis tomorrow.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, an unusual ‘bing, bing, boooong’ tone indicated a message had arrived in Mindy’s In-Box from a secured network. Then the unusual tone sounded again and again, a total of 6 times.

Each message was identified as arriving from the ***ARES III / SPC Network ***

She opened the first message:

 

\+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +  
TO: --- Mindy Park  
FROM: --- Melissa Lewis

Mindy, I am so glad to be able to communicate with you without the prying eyes of the world   
looking over my shoulder.

In my Navy career, and now with NASA, the most difficult command decision I have EVER had   
to make was to leave Mars without Mark .

I will forever be in your debt for finding him, Mindy! It meant so much to the entire crew and   
ultimately gave us hope that Mark could be rescued.

Multiple reports and communications from people whom I admire and respect, like Jack Stinson,   
Dox Paulin and Mitch Henderson, have all described you and your work, with nothing but praise.   
They have all commented on your insightful analysis and your initiative in watching over Mark.

Additionally, my husband Robert, as well as Mark’s parents, have told me about your caring   
attitude and dedication.

When we are back on Earth, I look forward to meeting you and thanking you in person for your   
role in making Mark’s rescue possible.

Sincerely, 

Mel  
\+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

 

Lewis’s message was followed by personal messages from each of the additional 5 Ares III crew members. She slowly read the messages and responded to each. 

They were personal messages so she didn’t share their content with anyone but she did tell Annie how moved she was to have received them.

But it didn’t stop there, almost everyday for the next several weeks there were additional messages from various crew members. 

It seemed that after such a long mission they were grateful to have someone with whom they could communicate, especially outside of crew and family. No wonder Dr Shields was in favor of their communications with Mindy. 

 

A sampling of messages:

 

\---------- Miss Park, or may I call you Mindy? Mark Watney tells me it is permissible but he   
is a prankster and is always teasing, so I am not sure. Please tell me if it is inappropriate. 

Helena has told me how gracious you were to she and Eliza when they dined with you in Darmstadt.   
Thank you for hosting them both. Eliza’s friends were very envious!

Alex V

 

\---------- Glad Commander Lewis got you access to our SPC network, otherwise I would have   
had to hack the server!

Now to the important stuff. My mother, always up on the latest gossip, tells me you are   
dating Chuck Y...is that true! 

I know at least 3 women who will hate you now because they all had their eyes on him themselves.

JBUG, If it isn’t too personal, how did it come about? 

Beth

 

\---------- Chuck Y has reported about what you did, first finding Mark alive and then watching   
over him daily. 

I can never thank you enough for finding my friend! 

Then again I can’t imagine what a boring job it was for you to watch a botany geek like Mark,   
month after mont after month! Kudos to you for putting up with that!

Rick

 

\---------- What do you mean you and Chuck Y got together through ‘unusual circumstances   
with a little boost from Annie Montrose and the President?‘ Do you mean President of the USA?

Don’t tease a story like that without the DETAILS,  I am stuck in this Tin Can for another 64 days   
with the same 5 people, so SPILL!!! (Please?)

Beth

 

\---------- The crew watched the complete documentary last night.  We had seen very small   
snippets before but had not really seen you ‘in action’ so to speak.

It was nice to put a face and a personality with your name.  

Also, we are now in a much better position to appreciate the work that you were doing by seeing   
some of it ourselves. 

And may I say it was a brilliant to ask the previous Ares crews for their help!

I am really looking forward to meeting you in person.

Mel

 

\---------- Seeing you in the documentary made me realize just how lucky I was to have you   
watching over me! Thank you so very much!

In the documentary you mentioned that you were friends with Annie Montrose, is that right? 

I have been concerned about Annie for some time now and I can’t really discuss anything other   
than Media with her in normal Hermes communications.

I don’t want to pry into anyone’s life here, but if it doesn’t break any personal confidences,   
can you tell me how Annie dealt with Sol 6 and my subsequent.... adventures?

Mark

 

\---------- Thank you so much for the good news about Malik Baptist’s brother. 

I spent time with the two of them before our mission and had referred them to the best in the   
field to treat him. Thank goodness it all worked out and thank you so much for letting me know!

Chris

 

\----------After watching the documentary I can see how busy you were, no wonder you didn’t   
have any time for a real first date! 

But how GREAT was it that Chuck Y waited for you!!!!!

You lucky girl!

Beth

 

\---------- I forgot to thank you for the poster you signed to Victor and for phoning him.   
Unfortunately, Victor’s girlfriend is very jealous because he talks about you all the time. 

Since I am busy here in on the Hermes, several million kilometers away, Victor will l just   
have to sort out his girlfriend problem on his own.

Ah, the struggles of young love.

Alex V.

 

\---------- I can’t tell you what a relief it is to know someone was there for Annie   
throughout this whole ordeal. 

Can you tell me more about what all went on?

Mark

 

\---------- You know very little about me and I know even less about you. But after the way   
you watched over Mark I feel totally safe in confiding in you.

You should know I am NOT asking you for advice, Mindy, but I need to share my secret with   
someone before I explode! 

I am in love with BETH! 

There, I’ve said it. 

No one on the crew knows, though Watney suspects, and I am certainly NOT going to tell Beth   
in the middle of a mission, but I had to tell someone. 

Boy, does that feel good!

Hope its OK that I dumped this on you? Thanks for being my Confidante!!!

Chris

 

\----------Waaaaait a minute! The President suggested an intimate getaway to Marthas Vineyard   
for you and Chuck Y?

Beth

 

\----------Tell Chuck Y that he lost the bet and owes me $20! 

Rick

 

\---------- Mindy, you have already done so much for us, but may I ask a big favor?

I didn’t expect to be away from Robert for so long and he has another birthday in two weeks.   
Mitch can let you into my office where, in the corner, is a blue box that I would like to ask you   
to send to Robert for me, please?

FYI - It is a vinyl 12 inch LP record of Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer “NO MORE TEARS” with   
the sleeve autographed by both of them. (Disco Rules!)

Once again, you are a lifesaver! Thank you.

Mel

 

\---------- She told you on sol 6 .... after knowing you for a couple of hours?! 

Does everyone trust you so quickly? 

Mark

 

\----------C’mon, the bet was regarding which of us would be ‘the first to go to Mars twice,’ and I won! 

And no, this wasn’t just one mission... it was two!. The first mission was to explore Mars and the second   
mission was to ‘go back to Mars’ and rescue Watney. So that qualifies as TWICE!

Tell the cheap bastard to PAY UP!!

Rick

 

\---------- Montrose, Kapoor and Henderson, have all been telling us that the entire world has a very   
high level of interest, almost passion, regarding Mark’s rescue. 

Robert has told me that you had to deal with some of this after the documentary aired. Can you give us   
an idea of what it was like? 

Mel

 

\---------- I think that Beck has a ‘thing’ for me. He is terrible at hiding it! I catch him watching me   
all the time but surprisingly it doesn’t feel creepy, so maybe I like him, too? But 900 days together in   
space sort of warps perspective.

I think I need to get some time away from the crew and the mission before start thinking about something   
like that, don’t you? 

Beth

 

\---------- Great suggestion! Jack Stinson and Ginger Dalton are the exact people to prepare us for   
what we will be facing. We will contact them as soon as we are back in Houston.

 

Mel

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The messaging with Mindy continued up until landing.

“I’m going to miss their communications” Mindy complained, “once the crew is back on Earth” 

“Mindy, they aren’t talking to you because they have nothing else to do,” Annie explained, “they respect   
what you did for the mission and more importantly, they like you! Believe me, you have 6 new friends   
who will want to keep in touch with you.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

December 27, 2037

Mindy found that looking for an apartment wasn’t really fun, probably because her heart wasn’t in it. 

Of course Annie was right, Mark wouldn’t be cleared to live off base for a few weeks, so Mindy didn’t really have to rush, but what really mattered was that Chuck Y asked her move in. Am I ready for that? YESSSS! It does seem like the right time to make that commitment.

Her thoughts were interrupted with a message from Annie who says she has to get to JSC for some kind of meeting. 

On the way to JSC she contacted Chuck Y to accept his offer to move in with him.


	21. Hearings

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Congressional Joint Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Inquiry into Ares III mission

 

Tuesday, September 14, 2038, Washington, D.C. -- Day 1 of the Ares III hearings

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

It is one of THOSE hearings ...with tremendous interest from the public and thus from the media, nationally and internationally. Everything to do with ARES III is watched closely and public interest is insatiable and has barely waned since the rescue. 

The astronauts themselves are held in the highest regard. They have met with and charmed Presidents, Prime Ministers, religious leaders and royalty around the world. Melissa Lewis’s address to the United Nations on the benefits of Space Exploration raised interest and created new alliances for future space exploration. 

 

The entire Joint Committee realizes they will need to handle their inquiries carefully lest they be hammered in the polls by public opinion. 

 

***** OPENING REMARKS: Commander Melissa Lewis, and Astronaut Mark Watney, Ares III *****

 

\---Co-Chairman Senator Adrian Conrad: -- (Looking at the witness table he first notices the woman in the Naval Uniform with ramrod straight posture and then glances at the man in the Ares III Flight Jacket) .. Commander Lewis, Astronaut Watney, thank you both for appearing today.

 

\-----Commander Melissa Lewis: -- Thank you for the opportunity to address the joint committee.

 

\---Sen Conrad: -- Before we begin, Commander Lewis, I see a number of people in military uniforms and NASA flight jackets are seated behind you and Mr Watney in the gallery. Can you tell us who is in attendance, please.

 

\----- Lewis: -- (Turning to look back and then returning face forward) The remaining 4 members of the Ares III crew are seated directly behind us. 

 

\----- Watney: -- Senator, if I may? The crew follows me everywhere now, they are afraid I might get left behind again. (Laughter erupts from gallery and from several committee members)

 

\----- Lewis: -- (Leave it to Watney to say the one thing that could make her want to giggle! But Melissa quickly maintains her composure and continues.) ... Seated to the left of the Ares III crew is my friend and one of my personal heroes, Retired, Marine Corps Lt. Colonel Jack Stinson, Commander of Ares I, the first mission to Mars, and the first human to walk on another planet. With him are 3 of his Ares I crew. Seated to the right of our crew is Commander Maddox Paulin and 4 members of his Ares II crew, the second mission to Mars. 

 

\--Sen Conrad: -- (Looking over the gallery) Well, welcome to you all! (looking back to Melissa) Hopefully, Commander Lewis, they know, their attendance wasn’t necessary?

 

\----- Lewis: -- Senator, they are certainly aware only Mark’s attendance and mine were requested, but when we arrived for the hearing this morning, we were pleasantly surprised that they were here and already seated. We are all crew and astronauts in the Ares program and I’m sure I speak for Mark when I say we are honored to have their support.. 

Sen Adrian Conrad: -- Very well, you may proceed with your opening statement.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

\----- Lewis: -- Chairmen Conrad and Swanson, Representatives and Senators..... the continued exploration of space is built on the work and sacrifice of many people who have come before us.

All of the Ares astronauts here remember and honor those people, in particular: (She begins to speak slowly and deliberately)

 

Apollo 1 Astronauts, Grissom.... White.... and Chaffe

Soyuz Cosmonaut, Komarov

Soyuz Cosmonauts, Dobrovski.... Patsayev.... and Volkov

Space Shuttle Challenger Astronauts, Jarvis.... McAuliffe.... McNair.... Onizuka.... Resnik.... Smith.... and Scobee

Space Shuttle Columbia Astronauts, Husband.... McCool.... Anderson.... Brown.... Chawla.... Clark.... and Ramon 

And Ari Yarmanian, a Demeter Mission Specialist and Hermes Construction Engineer

 

Mankind has been to the Moon and Mars on the shoulders of these 22 women and men, all who made the ultimate sacrifice for science and the exploration of the universe. The lessons learned from their deaths moved us all forward in space exploration. That deserves repeating, the LESSONS learned, moved us forward! 

My colleagues and I respectfully ask that when this committee explores the events which took place during the Ares III mission, it be not to place blame or to find scapegoats, but to gain information to better prepare for future missions. 

 

\----- Watney: -- Unplanned events and setbacks in exploration of the universe are not unusual. A quick bit of on-line research found several examples, here are a few:

In 1999 the Mars Climate Orbiter disintegrated in the Martian atmosphere because ground based computer software did NOT use the metric system . 

The Genesis Capsule returned to earth in 2004 with samples of Solar Wind, unfortunately the parachute system failed and causing it to crash. Examination of the wreckage indicated the sensors for deceleration had been installed backwards.

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 with a faulty mirror and a 1993 a Space Shuttle mission was needed to make repairs. 

 

May 5, 1961, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard was sitting in his spacecraft, Freedom 7, on top of a Redstone Rocket at Cape Canaveral, waiting to be launched as the first American into space. It was scheduled to be short sub-orbital flight of only 15 minutes and Shepard was to be in his flight suit for 5 hours, maximum. Various countdown holds, however, stretched that time to 8 hours. 

Astronaut Shepard had a problem, his bladder was full and no arrangements had been made for him to relieve himself! After repeatedly telling launch control that he really, really, really had to go, he was finally given permission to do so, INSIDE his space suit. Some of the electrodes monitoring his heart and breathing were shorted out but soon after, he launched successfully. Needless to say, bodily functions were taken into account for future missions.

By the way, rumor has it that a school student had written to NASA several months before Shepard’s mission asking where the first space man would use the toilet. The reply from NASA was: “The first spaceman is not expected to have “ to go!”

 

The point is that in each instance, lessons were learned, changes were made and space exploration has continually moved forward

 

\----- Lewis: -- We had more than our share of unforeseen circumstances on our mission, but with all due respect to Neil Armstrong and Apollo II or to Lt Colonel Stinson and his Ares I mission, (Now making eye contact with as many Committee members as possible) I challenge you.... to find a bigger success.... in the history of space exploration ....than the Ares III mission to Mars. 

 

( Melissa used her right index finger to make an imaginary ‘check mark’ on the palm of her left hand, as if it held a piece of paper, she ticked off the following items)

\- Mark Watney survived alone, on an entire planet, stretching 30 days of equipment and supplies to 560 Earth days. (CHECK)

\- Colonization is defined as the action of appropriating a place or domain for one's own use so......Mark Watney colonized Mars! For the first time ever, a human grew crops, with which to sustain himself, on another planet. The potential here for future Mars missions is staggering. (CHECK)

\- A pair of inoperable pieces of technology from the last century were retrieved, repaired and rejuvenated allowing communication with Earth. The original Pathfinder engineers had created an amazingly sturdy probe. (CHECK)

\- Receiving nothing but an innocuous piece of advice from the engineers on Earth ,‘cut a hole in the roof of a rover‘ Astronaut Watney modified a short range surface vehicle to traverse a distance of 3200 kilometers. Nearly 100 times its designed travel range. Because we now know this is possible, future missions may allow exploration from just one or two more permanent ‘home bases’ but explore vastly larger surface areas. (CHECK)

\- Soil samples were collected from more than 50 sites across the surface of Mars and then gathered in one location for easy retrieval. Once retrieved, It will take years to analyze these samples but the amount of information they hold is almost unimaginable. It would have conservatively taken at least a dozen Ares missions to collect this number of wide ranging samples (CHECK)

* Except for Watney, my crew and I have each endured nearly 900 days of space flight, more than double any previous mission, giving doctors and scientists untold opportunities to study the effects of long term space flight.   
(CHECK)

* Multiple pieces of equipment used in the Ares III Habitat, the Martian Rovers, and on the Hermes, have operated far beyond their design limits and in ways impossible to test on Earth. (CHECK)

 

\----- Watney: -- Wherever space exploration may go in the future, the knowledge gained on the Ares III mission is priceless and will reduce greatly the risk of space travel for future astronauts.

 

\----- Lewis: -- 76 years ago this week, John F. Kennedy said this in a speech:

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win...”

 

\----- Watney: -- I don’t think it is lost on anyone that President Kennedy emphasized that it would be HARD and would need our BEST ENERGIES. If ever there was a description of the Ares III mission, this was it. 

We know the committee wants to understand what led to problems that occurred on this mission, and that is valuable, but it will also serve us well to learn from those mistakes, not to place blame.

The Commander and I thank you for the opportunity you make this statement.

 

\----- Lewis: -- Excuse me Mark, one more thing if I may. 

If the committee feels that it needs to find fault or lay blame for Astronaut Watney having to survive alone on Mars, and for the Ares III mission going totally off plan, then you should know that blame lies squarely on my shoulders, and no where else. 

(There is a murmuring from the gallery)

It was my order that resulted in the crew leaving Mars without Mark. No one else is responsible or is to blame. If blame is the goal of these hearings, then they can conclude with my testimony because I am responsible.

 

(There were more murmurs from the committee members and there was a visible reaction from the Ares III crew in the gallery)

 

\----- Watney: -- Mr Chairman? (Murmuring continues) ..Mr Chairman, If I may?

(Mark pauses a moment) I have the greatest respect for Commander Lewis and I concur, she most certainly IS responsible. But NOT for a freak weather accident on Mars! 

 

It is important here at the beginning to clear up one thing, Commander Lewis did NOT choose to LEAVE ME on Mars! 

(Mark turns and nods to the crew who stand up) Instead, she chose to SAVE the lives of these four Ares III crew members! The crew, as well as Commander Lewis herself, would have DIED on the surface of Mars had not the storm battered M A V launched when it did, without me. For this, Commander Lewis IS responsible!

 

Commander Lewis was responsible for using the talents of her crew and the resources of the Hermes to rescue me when my launch from the surface of Mars was compromised. I sit here today because of Commander Lewis.

 

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that when it comes to the ultimate success of the Ares III mission, Commander Lewis IS responsible! 

 

\------------ Lewis: -- (With a pinched mouth, Melissa looks down at the table in front of her for a few moments, turns to look at Mark, smiles ever so slightly, takes a long drink of water to compose herself, and sits up straight in her chair) ... Mr Chairman, we are ready for your questions.


	22. Hearings Part 2

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Congressional Joint Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Inquiry into Ares III mission

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wednesday, September 15, 2038, Washington, D.C. -- Day 2 of the Ares III hearings

 

***** Excerpts from testimony of NASA Director, Theodore Sanders *****

 

\--- Representative Marjorie Bay Higgins: -- Director Sanders, after the accident, what did the Sol 6 satellite images of the Ares III Habitat tell you about the incident? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- There were no images taken on Sol 6.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- OK then, what about Sol 7 or Sol 8?

 

\----- Sanders: -- There were no images on Sol 7 or 8.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- Director, wasn’t this a disaster unlike any other faced by NASA, an astronaut’s life lost on another planet”

 

\----- Sanders: -- Yes 

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- The crew had reported the Mars Ascent Vehicle came dangerously close to tipping beyond a point which would have caused the entire crew to be stranded or even killed. In fact, only Major Martinez’ quick thinking and piloting skills prevented a total disaster. Correct?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Correct!

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- Commander Lewis reported that flying debris from some piece of equipment had killed Mark Watney. 

 

\----- Sanders: -- That’s also correct.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- So at least two pieces of equipment were severely impacted by the storm on Sol 6. Didn’t this raise questions about the effect of the storm on the remaining facilities and equipment used in the mission?

 

\----- Sanders: -- These were extreme circumstances, but yes.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- Would it not have been prudent to assess the status, at least visually, of the remaining equipment -- the Habitat, the solar array, or the rovers, to see if they appeared to be damaged by the storm, too?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Yes, and we did that on Sol 49.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- Let me rephrase.... 

Wouldn’t it have been prudent to look at the equipment BEFORE it was further subjected to the Martian elements? If there was damage due to the storm wouldn’t you want to know as soon as possible, why wait for Mars to inflict an additional 6 weeks of damage? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- Publicity, Congresswoman.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- I beg your pardon?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Publicity. (after pausing a moment) I didn’t want a picture of Mark Watney’s remains seen around the world. That could have been devastating publicity.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: --- So you are saying the risk of bad publicity was responsible for your not finding out Mark Watney was alive earlier than Sol 49?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Yes.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- I see. ...(a long pause)... Well, what changed on Sol 49?

 

\------ Sanders: -- I was convinced by Dr Kapoor to allow the satellite images to be taken.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- Yes, but what had changed?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Well, nothing had changed, Congresswoman.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- So there was still the same chance of ‘bad publicity’?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Yes

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- So then there really was no good reason not to have discovered that astronaut Watney had survived on Sol 6 or 7?

 

\----- Sanders: -- (Silence)

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- Director?

 

\----- Sanders: -- No, there wasn’t.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- (reading from a report) “...reviewing satellite images on Sol 49, Mindy Park recognized anomalies to the Ares III Habitat site leading to the conclusion the Astronaut Watney was alive.’” 

(Looking up at Sanders) Once you agreed with Miss Park’s assessment, that Astronaut Watney was alive, what was your comment to everyone at that time.

 

\----- Sanders: -- I believe I said that I thought he would starve to death before we could rescue him.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- How long does it take to put together a resupply of equipment and food for the trip to Mars?

 

\----- Sanders: -- 6 Months

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- So, by waiting to look at the Ares III compound until Sol 49, you had already lost 6 weeks in potential resupply prep time?

 

\----- Sanders: -- I suppose so, yes.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- And then, after finding Watney alive on Sol 49, it was an ADDITIONAL 21 days before you finally tasked Director Ng and the staff at the JPL to begin creating the resupply module to be rushed to Mars, correct? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- Yes

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- You had already commented that Watney was likely to run out of food before a resupply probe could reach him. Can you offer any explanation why you waited three weeks before before ordering a resupply probe to be created?

 

\----- Sanders: -- (after a lengthy pause)..... No, Congresswoman.

 

\-- Rep Higgins: -- Let’s see, 6 weeks without finding Watney alive and another 3 weeks before work began on a resupply probe. When you eventually had to complete a resupply probe in just 48 days, I bet you wish you hadn’t lost those 9 weeks, right? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- Yes

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

\-- Senator M. Hendren Bates: -- Director, tell us about Mindy Park. 

 

\----- Sanders: -- Mindy Park was integral to the rescue of Mark Watney. She proved to be very smart, resourceful, intuitive and willing to take initiative. 

She worked long hours, adapted her sleep routine and gave up any personal life to just monitor Mark Watney on Mars. She has earned the respect of everyone at NASA, and rightfully so. 

 

\-- Sen. Bates: -- Why?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Senator?

 

\-- Sen. Bates: -- Why did Mindy Park have to alter her sleep routines? Why did she have to work week after week, month after month, in some stretches putting in 13+ hour days, with no time off? Why did Mindy Park have to take sleep aids just to do this job? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- It was what the project required.

 

\-- Sen. Bates: -- (shaking his head slightly) Lets go at this another way. How many people work in Satcon, Director.

 

\----- Sanders: -- At the time, 19, including Miss Park.

 

\-- Sen. Bates: -- Did Miss Park have any special experience or training to do this special task of monitoring Watney?

 

\----- Sanders: -- No

 

\-- Sen. Bates:-- Was she a manager or the most senior member of Satcon?

 

\----- Sanders: -- No, Senator

 

\-- Sen Bates: -- How many in others in Satcon were senior to Miss Park?

 

\----- Sanders: -- I believe 14 

 

\-- Sen. Bates: -- At this stage, it seems everyone agrees that no one could have done a better job taking on this special task than Mindy Park and she has deserved every bit of praise she has received. Personally, my admiration for her work is second to none! 

But the question I have is WHY she had to do it alone?

Could there not have been a few others, working in shifts, tasked with the monitoring as well? Maybe Miss Park could have even been made the leader of such a team? Why in the world did she have to spend month after month doing all of this work alone? 

What if she had caught the flu, had an attack of appendicitis, or simply decided to quit because of stress or long hours? 

What if she missed something important because she was at the end of another brutally long shift?

What if the pressure just became too great for her to handle?

 

\----- Sanders: -- I take full responsibility for Mindy being the only person assigned to monitoring Watney. She earned our trust on Sol 49 and I felt we needed someone we could trust. Perhaps it was shortsighted, but it was the decision I made.

 

\-- Sen. Bates: -- (as an aside) Hmmmm, shortsighted.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

\-- Congressman Alexander Hawthorn -- Director Sanders, what advice did the Ares I and II astronaut crews offer about Watney’s survival on Mars when he was discovered alive.

 

\----- Sanders: -- They weren’t consulted.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- Why not?

 

\----- Sanders: -- We already had all of NASA’s engineers and technicians working on the rescue.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- I see. How many of those engineers and technicians have travelled in space?

 

\----- Sanders: -- None

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- How many of the engineers and techs have walked or lived on the Moon or Mars? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- Obviously, none

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- What made their contributions to the effort so valuable?

 

\----- Sanders: -- These people designed all the equipment used in the mission. From the spacecraft to the helmet locks to the kitchen microwaves. They were experts on how each piece of equipment was designed to be used and the science behind it all.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- But have they ever used the equipment on a mission or in low gravity?

 

\----- Sanders: -- Of course not.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- Have their lives ever depended on the equipment working properly? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- No. 

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- Did the engineers ever advise that using the RTG to heat the Rover could save energy during long trips?

 

\-------- Sanders: -- No.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- Did the engineers ever suggest that the Rovers COULD be used for trips longer than 35 kilometers?

 

\----- Sanders: -- No.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- Did the engineers ever design a way to create water from Hydrazine in the Habitat? Or did the engineers ever suggest Duct tape could be used to seal breeches in an astronaut’s EVA suit?

 

\----- Sanders: -- No one did, at least until Mark Watney did so.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- Precisely, my point! In a survival situation, Astronauts look at the equipment available to them as tools to use in their survival.

An unused EVA suit becomes a container for storing water

Extra Hab canvas becomes a bathtub, or saddlebags to carry equipment on the rover, or the key element in creating a tent to be used for for the comfort of an astronaut on a long journey.

The RTG can heat a rover on a long journey or be used to heat a bath for soothing a strained back. 

Were the engineers really the only choice, or even the best choice, to consult regarding Watney’s survival? Or were the astronauts who had used and depended on this equipment during previous Mars missions just as qualified, perhaps in some situations, even more qualified to help? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- The astronauts are a group of talented, brave people, but they are limited to a small part of any mission, whereas the engineers take a much wider view and know the equipment inside and out.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn: -- Yet Mindy Park, whose work on the rescue has been praised as intuitive and insightful, realized the value of consulting with the Ares I & II astronauts within a few weeks of taking on the assignment. And she did this on her own, without your knowledge or specific permission, and found it to be a great benefit. Her reports, consulting with those astronauts were spot on accurate and insightful, and repeatedly praised, were they not? 

 

\----- Sanders: -- Yes.

 

\-- Rep Hawthorn:-- (A short pause) Mr Chairman, thats all I have

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

\-- Co-Chairman Representative Donovan Bell: -- Director Henderson, is it not mandated policy for NASA to release all communications with the Astronauts when they are on a mission?

 

\----- Henderson: -- Yes, Congressman, that’s correct.

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- With that in mind, during their testimony, both Commander Lewis and Director Sanders have deferred the following question for you to answer:

The staff of this committee has scoured the mission logs and nowhere can we find in any of the communications where the crew of the Hermes were provided details necessary to carry out the “Purnell Maneuver.” We can’t even find a discussion of the maneuver offering it as an option for Commander Lewis to consider. Can you explain this?

 

\----- Henderson: -- Certainly. 

I informed the crew of the option to use the maneuver over the SPC Network, the Secure Personnel Communications Network, rather than NASA’s usual SCN, Standard Communications Network.

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- What is the SPC network?

 

\----- Henderson: -- It is the network set-up to allow astronauts and their families to communicate confidentially.

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- What was the purpose of keeping contact with the crew confidential when nothing else on the missions was? Why would regulations have been ignored for this communication? 

 

\----- Henderson: -- It was strictly my decision to contact the crew in this manner.

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- Yes, but why were you hiding this from the public? 

 

\-----Henderson: -- I’ll explain, but first some perspective. 

It is important to remember that rarely has there been such day to day, life or death drama, playing out at NASA , in real time, in front of such a passionate worldwide audience.

Only 6 of us at NASA even knew about the Purnell Maneuver and I chose to be careful about how the information was shared with the crew.

I provided Commander Lewis with the details of the maneuver but I thought it would be unfair to have the entire world second-guessing whatever decision she made! It also would have been unfair to the crew and all the dedicated people at NASA working on this project to be trolled by ill-informed public opinions:

I wanted to avoid comments like: 

“They’re only going back for Watney ‘cause they would look bad if they didn’t try to save him”

or

“They are going back only because they all feel guilty about abandoning him in the first place”

 

or perhaps,

 

“They will not not go back because they are afraid to risk their lives for a long shot mission”

 

Again, we did not 'order' Commander Lewis one way or the other. We knew dealing with the crew daily, she had insight into the mood of the crew and, through Dr Beck, she was more up to date regarding the physical condition of the crew and any developing health problems. She also had first hand knowledge of the condition of the Hermes and its systems - was it wearing out, would the ship hold up to this extended mission.

Finally, as a Naval Officer and Commander of the Ares III Mission, Melissa Lewis is the epitome of a team leader and rational decision maker and a person of the highest character. The exact person we wanted making this decision.

It was certainly possible that her judgement of the status of the Hermes and Crew would have led her to tell us to go ahead forward with the original plan - using Chinese booster rocket, Taiyang Shen, to attempt to resupply Watney with food.

But there was never any doubt in our minds Commander Lewis would base her decision on her analysis of the ship and crew, and would NEVER be swayed by public opinion. The only way to PROVE that, however, was to keep the APPEARANCE of public pressure out of the equation.

Communicating in private, without so called experts and commentators around the world swaying public opinion, was the easiest decision I have ever made as Fight Director.

 

\-- Rep Bell:-- But now, because this was all done in secret, there seems to be a growing concern that the crew acted on their own and that it was mutiny that led to the crew going back to get Watney.

 

\----- Henderson: -- Growing concern from whom? Can you name one person who has said they think this was mutiny.

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- I don’t know, it is just what people are beginning to think.

 

\----- Henderson: -- What people? Do you think it was mutiny? Do the other members of the committee? 

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- Speaking for myself, no. I don’t think there was a mutiny.

 

\----- Henderson: -- I’ll tell you who is circulating such nonsense, the faceless, nameless, ill informed on-line trolls. The few who actually own up to such drivel are documented conspiracy nuts.

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- Regardless, public opinion holds some weight to those of us in elected offices and to those of us who are responsible for NASA’s budget.

 

\----- Henderson: -- Very well, let me explain to the committee why the idea of a so-called mutiny is absurd.

But first, let's clear up one thing, had the crew of Ares III somehow chosen to go after Watney on their own, against the wishes of NASA, it wouldn’t have been a mutiny, it would have been an act of barratry. Mutiny occurs when a crew rises up against their officers. However, if the crew, including the Commander, had gone against the directions or instructions of the ship’s owner, then that would have been Barratry. 

Now to put an end to his outrageous theory of the crew committing Barratry, all you need to know one important thing - NASA can take control of the Hermes from Earth! 

That’s right...... NASA.... on the ground... can OVERRIDE.... any action taken by a Hermes pilot.

The Hermes is a multibillion dollar research ship and had the crew ever been incapacitated, killed, or somehow been affected by illness or noxious fumes or whatever, NASA would not have wanted to lose a this valuable asset, flying off into space. Through a few computer key strokes, NASA could have overridden any commands on the ship itself and sent the ship wherever they deemed appropriate, including home!

So let’s be clear, the ship was designed so there is no way the crew could have made the Purnell Maneuver without NASA’s approval - tacit, specific or otherwise. 

 

\-- Rep Bell: -- I didn't know that, (looking around at his colleagues) I don't think anyone on the committee knew that. That puts things in an entirely different light. 

 

Thank you Director Henderson


End file.
